Time 35 minutes 27 Questions
Directions: Each passage in this section is followed by a group of questions to be answered on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage. For some of the questions, more than one of the choices could conceivably answer the question. However, you are to choose the best answer, that is, the response that most accurately and completely answers the question, and blacken the corresponding space on your answer sheet.
It is a fundamental tenet of geophysics that the Earth’s magnetic field can exist in either of two polarity states: a “normal” state, in which north-seeking compass needles point to the geographic north, and a “reverse” state, in which they point to the geographic south. Geological evidence shows that periodically the field’s polarity reverses, and that these reversals have been taking place at an increasing rate. Evidence also indicates that the field does not reverse instantaneously from one polarity state to another; rather, the process involves a transition period that typically spans a few thousand years.
Though this much is known, the underlying causes of the reversal phenomenon are not well understood. It is generally accepted that the magnetic field itself is generated by the motion of free electrons in the outer core, a slowly churning mass of molten metal sandwiched between the Earth’s mantle (the region of the Earth’s interior lying below the crust) and its solid inner core. In some way that is not completely understood, gravity and the Earth’s rotation, acting on temperature and density differences within the outer core fluid, provide the driving forces behind the generation of the field. The reversal phenomenon may be triggered when something disturbs the heat circulation pattern of the outer core fluid, and with it the magnetic field.
Several explanations for this phenomenon have been proposed. One proposal, the “heat-transfer hypothesis,” is that the triggering process is intimately related to the way the outer core vents its heat into the mantle. For example, such heat transfer (heat transfer: 传热) could create hotter (rising) or cooler (descending) blobs of material from the inner and outer boundaries of the fluid core, thereby perturbing the main heat-circulation pattern. A more controversial alternative proposal is the asteroid-impact hypothesis. In this scenario an extended period of cold and darkness results from the impact of an asteroid large enough to send a great cloud of dust into the atmosphere. Following this climatic change, ocean temperatures drop and the polar ice caps grow, redistributing the Earth’s seawater. This redistribution increases the rotational acceleration of the mantle, causing friction and turbulence near the outer core-mantle boundary and initiating reversal of the magnetic field.
How well do these hypotheses account for such observations as the long-term increase in the frequency of reversal? In support of the asteroid-impact model, it had been argued that the gradual cooling of the average ocean temperature would enable progressively smaller asteroid impacts (which are known to occur more frequently than larger impacts) to cool the Earth’s climate sufficiently to induce ice-cap growth and reversals. But theories that depend on extraterrestrial intervention seem less convincing than theories like the first, which account for the phenomenon solely by means of the thermodynamic state of the outer core and its effect on the mantle.
1. Which one of the following statements regarding the Earth’s outer core is best supported by information presented in the passage?
(A) Heat circulation in the outer core controls the growth and diminution of the polar ice caps.
(B) Impact of asteroids on the Earth’s surface alters the way in which the outer core vents its heat into the mantle.
(C) Motion of electrons within the metallic fluid in the outer core produces the Earth’s magnetic field.
(D) Friction and turbulence near the boundary between the outer core and the mantle are typically caused by asteroid impacts.(C)
(E) Cessation of heat circulation within the outer core brings on multiple reversals in the Earth’s magnetic field.
2. The author’s objection to the second hypothesis discussed in the passage is most applicable to which one of the following explanations concerning the extinction of the dinosaurs?
(A) The extinction of the dinosaurs was the result of gradual changes in the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere that occurred over millions of years.
(B) The dinosaurs became extinct when their food supply was disrupted following the emergence of mammals.
(C) The dinosaurs succumbed to the new, colder environment brought about by a buildup of volcanic ash in the atmosphere.
(D) After massively overpopulation the planet, dinosaurs disappeared due to widespread starvation and the rapid spread of disease.(E)
(E) After radical climatic changes resulted from the impact of a comet, dinosaurs disappeared from the Earth.
3. The author mentions the creation of blobs of different temperatures in the Earth’s outer core (lines 34-38) primarily in order to
(A) present a way in which the venting of heat from the outer core might disturb the heat-circulation pattern within the outer core
(B) provide proof for the proposal that ventilation of heat from the outer core into the mantle triggers polarity reversal
(C) give an example of the way in which heat circulates between the Earth’s outer core and the Earth’s exterior
(D) describe how the outer core maintains its temperature by venting its excess heat into the Earth’s mantle(A)
(E) argue in favor of the theory that heat circulation in the Earth’s interior produces the magnetic field
4. Which one of the following statements regarding the polarity of the Earth’s magnetic field is best supported by information in the passage?
(A) Most, but not all, geophysicists agree that the Earth’s magnetic field may exist in two distinct polarity states.
(B) Changes in the polarity of the Earth’s magnetic field have occurred more often in the recent past that in the distant past.
(C) Heat transfer would cause reversals of the polarity of the Earth’s magnetic field to occur more quickly than would asteroid impact.
(D) Geophysicists’ understanding of the reversal of the Earth’s magnetic field has increased significantly since the introduction of the heat-transfer hypothesis.(B)
(E) Friction near the boundary of the inner and outer cores brings on reversal of the polarity of the geomagnetic field.
5. Which one of the following can be inferred regarding the two proposals discussed in the passage?
(A) Since their introduction they have sharply divided the scientific community.
(B) Both were formulated in order to explain changes in the frequency of polarity reversal.
(C) Although no firm conclusions regarding them have yet been reached, both have been extensively investigated.
(D) They are not the only proposals scientists have put forward to explain the phenomenon of polarity reversal.(D)
(E) Both were introduced some time ago and have since fallen into disfavor among geophysicists.
6. The author mentions each of the following as possible contributing causes to reversals of the Earth’s magnetic field EXCEPT
(A) changes in the way heat circulates within the outer core fluid
(B) extended periods of colder temperatures on the Earth’s surface
(C) the creation of circulation blobs of outer core material of different temperatures
(D) changes in circulation patterns in the Earth’s oceans(D)
(E) clouding of the Earth’s atmosphere by a large amount of dust
Innovations in language are never completely new. When the words used for familiar things change, or words for new things enter the language, they are usually borrowed or adapted from stock. Assuming new roles, they drag their old meanings along behind them like flickering shadow. This seems especially true of the language of the contemporary school of literary criticism that now prefers to describe its work simply and rather presumptuously as theory but is still popularly referred to as poststructuralism of deconstruction.
The first neologisms adopted by this movement were signifier and signified, employed to distinguish arbitrariness of the term we choose. The use of these particular terms (rather than, respectively, words and thing) underlined the seriousness of the naming process and its claim on our attention. Since in English “to signify” can also mean “to portend,” these terms also suggest that words predict coming events.
With the use of the term deconstruction we move into another and more complex realm of meaning. The most common use of the terms construction and deconstruction is in the building trades, and their borrowing by literary theorists for a new type of criticism cannot help but have certain overtones to the outsider. First, the usage suggests that the creation and critical interpretation of literature are not organic but mechanical processes; that the author of any piece of writing is not an inspired, intuitive artist, but merely a laborer who cobbles existing materials (words) into more or less conventional structures. The term deconstruction implies that the text has been put together like a building or a piece of machinery, and that it is in need of being taken apart, not so much in order to repair it as to demonstrate underlying inadequacies, false assumptions, and inherent contradictions. This process can supposedly be repeated many times and by many literary hard hats (a conservative who is intolerant of opposing views); it is expected that each deconstruction will reveal additional flaws and expose the illusions or bad faith of the builder. The fact that deconstructionists prefer to describe their activities as deconstruction rather than criticism is also revealing. Criticism and critic derive from the Greek Kritikos, “skillful in judging, decisive.” Deconstruction, on the other hand, has no overtones of skill or wisdom; it merely suggests demolition of an existing building. In popular usage criticism suggests censure but not change. If we find fault with a building, we may condemn it, but we do not carry out the demolition ourselves. The deconstructionist, by implication, is both judge and executioner who leaves a text totally dismantled, if not reduced to a pile of rubble.
7. Which one of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?
(A) Implicit in the terminology of the school of criticism known as deconstruction are meanings that reveal the true nature of the deconstructionist’s endeavor.
(B) The appearance of the terms signifier and signified in the field of literary theory anticipated the appearance of an even more radical idea known as deconstruction.
(C) Innovations in language and relations between old and new meanings of terms are a special concern of the new school of criticism known as deconstruction.
(D) Deconstructionists maintain that it is insufficient merely to judge a work: the critic must actively dismantle it.(A)
(E) Progress in the field of literary theory is best achieved by looking for new terms like signifier and deconstruction that might suggest new critical approaches to a work.
8. Which one of the following is a claim that the author of the passage makes about deconstructionists?
(A) Deconstructionists would not have been able to formulate their views adequately without the terms signifier and signified.
(B) Deconstructionists had no particular purpose in mind in choosing to use neologisms.
(C) Deconstructionists do not recognize that their own theory contains inherent contradictions.
(D) Deconstructionists find little interest in the relationship between words and their referents.(E)
(E) Deconstructionists use the terms signifier and signified to stress the importance of the process of naming.
9. Which one of the following generalizations about inventions is most analogous to the author’s point about innovation in language?
(A) A new invention usually consists of components that are specifically manufactured for the new invention.
(B) A new invention is usually behind the times, never making as much use of all the available modern technology as it could.
(C) A new invention usually consists of components that are already available but are made to function in new ways.
(D) A new invention is most useful when it is created with attention to the historical tradition established by implements previously used to do the same job.(C)
(E) A new invention is rarely used to its full potential because it is surrounded by out-of-date technology that hinder its application.
10. The author of the passage uses the word “criticism” in lines 46-56 primarily in order to
(A) give an example
(B) introduce a contrast
(C) undermine an argument
(D) codify a system(B)
(E) dismiss an objection
11. Which one of the following best describes the function of the second paragraph within the passage as a whole?
(A) It introduces a hypothesis that the author later expands upon.
(B) It qualifies a claim made earlier by the author.
(C) It develops an initial example of the author’s general thesis.
(D) It predicts a development.(C)
(E) It presents a contrasting view.
12. The passage suggests that the author most probably holds the view that an important characteristic of literary criticism is that it
(A) demonstrate false assumptions and inherent contradictions
(B) employ skill and insight
(C) be carried out by one critic rather than many
(D) reveal how a text is put together like a building(B)
(E) point out the superiority of conventional text structures
13. The passage suggests that which one of the following most accurately describes the author’s view of deconstructionist thought?
(A) The author is guardedly optimistic about the ability of deconstruction to reveal the intentions and biases of a writer.
(B) The author endorses the utility of deconstruction for revealing the role of older meanings of words.
(C) The author is enthusiastic about the significant neologisms that deconstruction has introduced into literary criticism.
(D) The author regards deconstruction’s tendency to focus only on the problems and faults of literary texts as too mechanical.(D)
(E) The author condemns deconstruction’s attempts to define literary criticism as a creative act.
(The following passage was written in 1986)
The legislation (the enactments of a legislator or a legislative body) of a country recently considered a bill designed to reduce the uncertainty inherent in the ownership of art by specifying certain conditions that must be met before an allegedly stolen work of art can be reclaimed by a plaintiff. The bill places the burden of proof in reclamation litigation entirely on the plaintiff, who must demonstrate that the holder of an item knew at the time of purchase that it had been stolen. Additionally, the bill creates a uniform national statute of limitations for reclamation of stolen cultural property.
Testifying (声明，表明) in support of the bill, James D, Burke, a citizen of the country and one of its leading art museum directors, specially praised the inclusion of a statute of limitations; otherwise, he said, other countries could seek to reclaim valuable art objects, no matter how long they have been held by the current owner or how legitimately they were acquired. Any country could enact a patrimony law stating that anything ever made within the boundaries of that country is its cultural property. Burke expressed the fear that lead to ruinous legal defense costs for museums.
However, because such reclamation suits have not yet been a problem, there is little basis for Burke’s concern. In fact, the proposed legislation would establish too many unjustifiable barriers to the location and recovery of stolen objects. The main barrier is that the bill considers the announcement of an art transaction in a museum publication to be adequate evidence of an attempt to notify a possible owner. There are far too many such publications for the victim of a theft to survey, and with only this form of disclosure, a stolen object could easily remain unlocated even if assiduously searched for. Another stipulation requires that a purchaser show the object to a scholar for verification that it is not stolen, but it is a rare academic who is aware of any but the most publicized art thefts. Moreover, the time limit specified by the statute of limitations is very short, and the requirement that the plaintiff demonstrate that the holder had knowledge of the theft is unrealistic. Typically, stolen art changes hands several times before rising to the level in the marketplace where a curator or collector would see it. At that point, the object bears no trace of the initial transaction between the thief and the first purchaser, perhaps the only one in the chain who knowingly acquired a stolen work of art.
Thus, the need for new legislation to protect holders of art is not obvious. Rather, what is necessary is legislation remedying the difficulties that legitimate owners of works of art, and countries from which such works have been stolen, have in locating and reclaiming these stolen works.
14. Which one of the following most accurately summarizes the main point of the passage?
(A) Various legal disputes have recently arisen that demonstrate the need for legislation clarifying the legal position of museums in suits involving the repossession of cultural property.
(B) A bill intended to prevent other governments from recovering cultural property was recently introduced into the legislature of a country at the behest of its museum directors.
(C) A bill intended to protect good-faith purchasers of works of art from reclamation litigation is unnecessary and fails to address the needs of legitimate owners attempting to recover stolen art works.
(D) Clashes between museum professionals and members of the academic community regarding governmental legislation of the arts can best be resolved by negotiation and arbitration, not by litigation.(C)
(E) The desire of some governments to use legislation and litigation to recover cultural property stolen from their countries has led to abuses in international patrimony legislation.
15. The uncertainty mentioned in line 2 of the passage refers to the
(A) doubt that owners of works of art often harbor over whether individuals have a moral right to possess great art
(B) concern that owners of works of art often have that their possession of such objects may be legally challenged at any time
(C) questions that owners of works of art often have concerning the correct identification of the age and origin of their objects
(D) disputes that often arise between cultural institutions vying for the opportunity to purchase a work of art(B)
(E) apprehension that owners of works of art often feel concerning the possibility that their objects may be damaged or stolen from them
16. Which one of the following is an example of the kind of action that Burke feared would pose a serious threat to museums in his country?
(A) the passage of a law by another country forbidding the future export of any archaeological objects uncovered at sites within its territory
(B) an international accord establishing strict criteria for determining whether a work of art can be considered stolen and specifying the circumstances under which it must be returned to its country of origin
(C) the passage of a law by another country declaring that all objects created by its aboriginal people are the sole property of that country
(D) an increase in the acquisition of culturally significant works of art by private collectors, who are more capable than museums of bearing the cost of litigation but who rarely display their collections to the public(C)
(E) the recommendation of a United Nations committee studying the problem of art theft that all international sales of cultural property be coordinated by a central regulatory body
17. According to the passage, Burke envisaged the most formidable potential adversaries of his country’s museums in reclamation litigation to be
(A) commercial dealers in art
(B) law enforcement officials in his own country
(C) governments of other countries
(D) private collectors of art(C)
(E) museums in other countries
18. The author suggests that in the country mentioned in line 1, litigation involving the reclamation of stolen works of art has been
(A) less common than Burke fears it will become without passage of a national stature of limitations for reclamation of stolen cultural property
(B) increasing as a result of the passage of legislation that aids legitimate owners of art in their attempts to recover stolen works
(C) a serious threat to museums and cultural institutions that have unwittingly added stolen artifacts to their collections
(D) a signal of the legitimate frustrations of victims of at theft(A)
(E) increasing as a result of an increase in the amount of art theft
19. Which one of the following best describes the author’s attitude towards the proposed bill?
(A) impassioned support
(B) measured advocacy
(C) fearful apprehension
(D) reasoned opposition(D)
(E) reluctant approval
20. Which one of the following best exemplifies the sort of legislation considered necessary by the author of the passage?
(A) a law requiring museums to notify foreign governments and cultural institutions of all the catalogs and scholarly journals that they publish
(B) a law providing for the creation of a national warehouse for storage of works of art that are the subject of litigation
(C) a law instituting a national fund for assisting museums to bear the expenses of defending themselves against reclamation suits
(D) A law declaring invalid all sales of culture property during the last ten years by museums of one country to museums of another(E)
(E) A law requiring that a central archive be established for collecting and distributing information concerning all reported thefts of cultural property
Until recently, few historians were interested in analyzing the similarities and differences between serfdom in Russia and slavery in the United States. Even Alexis de Tocqueville, who recognized the significant comparability of the two nations, never compared their systems of servitude, despite his interest in United States slavery. Moreover, the almost simultaneous abolition of Russian serfdom and United States slavery in the 1860s—a riveting coincidence that should have drawn more modern scholars to a comparative study of the two systems of servitude—has failed to arouse the interest of scholars. Though some historians may have been put off by the forbidding political differences between nineteenth-century Russia and the United States—one an imperial monarchy, the other a federal democracy—a recent study by Peter Kolchin identifies differences that are illuminating, especially with regard to the different kinds of rebellion exhibited by slaves and serfs.
Kolchin points out that nobles owning serfs in Russia constituted only a tiny proportion of the population, while in the southern United States, about a quarter of all White people were members of slave-owning families. And although in the southern United States only 2 percent of slaves worked on plantations where more than a hundred slaves worked, in Russia almost 80 percent of the serfs worked for nobles who owned more than a hundred serfs. In Russia most serfs rarely saw their owners who tended to rely on intermediaries to manage their estates, while most southern planters lived on their land and interacted with slaves on a regular basis.
These differences in demographics partly explain differences in the kinds of resistance that slaves and serfs practiced in their respective countries. Both serfs and slaves engaged in a wide variety of rebellious activity, from silent sabotage, much of which has escaped the historical record, to organized armed rebellions, which were more common in Russia. The practice of absentee ownership, combined with the large numbers in which serfs were owned, probably contributed significantly to the four great rebellions that swept across Russia at roughly fifty-year intervals in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The last of these, occurring between 1773 and 1774, enlisted more than a million serfs in a futile attempt to overthrow the Russian nobility. Russian serfs also participated in smaller acts of collective defiance called the volnenie, which typically started with a group of serfs who complained of grievances by petition and went out on strike. Confrontations between slaves and plantation authorities were also common, but they tended to be much less collective in nature than those that occurred in Russia, probably in part because the number of workers on each estate was smaller in the United States than was the case in Russia.
21. Which one of the following best states the main idea of the passage?
(A) Differences in the demographics of United States slavery and Russian serfdom can help explain the different kinds of resistance practiced by slaves and serfs in their respective countries.
(B) Historians have yet to undertake an adequate comparison and contrast of Russian serfdom and United States slavery.
(C) Revolts by Russian serfs were commonly characterized by collective action.
(D) A recent study has questioned the value of comparing United States slavery to Russian serfdom, especially in light of the significant demographic and cultural differences between the two countries.(A)
(E) De Tocqueville failed to recognize the fundamental differences between Russian serfdom and United States slavery which more recent historians have identified.
22. According to the author, de Tocqueville was similar to many modern historians in his
(A) interest in the demographic differences between Russia and the United States during the nineteenth century
(B) failure to undertake a comparison of Russian serfdom and United States slavery
(C) inability to explain why United States slavery and Russian serfdom were abolished during the same decade
(D) overestimation of the significance of the political differences between Russia and the United States(B)
(E) recognition of the essential comparability of Russia and the United States
23. Which one of the following assertions, if true, would provide the most support for Kolchin’s principal conclusion regarding the relationship of demographics to rebellion among Russian serfs and United States slaves?
(A) Collective defiance by serfs during the nineteenth century was confined almost exclusively to their participation in the volnenie.
(B) The rebellious activity of United States slaves was more likely to escape the historical record than was the rebellious activity of Russian serfs.
(C) Organized rebellions by slaves in the Western Hemisphere during the nineteenth century were most common in colonies with large estates that normally employed more than a hundred slaves.
(D) In the southern United States during the nineteenth century, those estates that were managed by intermediaries rather than by the owner generally relied upon the labor of at least a hundred slaves.(C)
(E) The intermediaries who managed estates in Russia during the nineteenth century were in general much more competent as managers than the owners of the estates that they managed.
24. The fact that United States slavery and Russian serfdom were abolished during the same decade is cited by the author in the first paragraph primarily in order to
(A) emphasize that rebellions in both countries eventually led to the demise of the two institutions
(B) cite a coincidence that de Tocqueville should have been able to foresee
(C) suggest one reason why more historians should have been drawn to a comparative study of the two institutions
(D) cite a coincidence that Kolchin’s study has failed to explain adequately(C)
(E) emphasize the underlying similarities between the two institutions
25. The author cites which one of the following as a factor that might have discouraged historians from undertaking a comparative study of Russian serfdom and United States slavery?
(A) major differences in the political systems of the two countries
(B) major differences in the demographics of the two countries
(C) the failure of de Tocqueville to address the subject
(D) differences in the size of the estates on which slaves and serfs labored(A)
(E) the comprehensiveness of Kolchin’s own work
26. According to the passage, Kolchin’s study asserts that which one of the following was true of Russian nobles during the nineteenth century?
(A) They agreed to the abolition of serfdom in the 1860s largely as a result of their having been influenced by the abolition of slavery in the United States.
(B) They became more directly involved in the management of their estates as a result of the rebellions that occurred in the previous century.
(C) They commonly agreed to at least some of the demands that arose out of the volnenie.
(D) They had relatively little direct contact with the serfs who worked on their estates.(D)
(E) They hastened the abolition of serfdom by failing to devise an effective response to the collective nature of the serfs’ rebellious activity.
27. The passage suggests that which one of the following was true of southern planters in the United States?
(A) They were as prepared for collective protest as were their Russian counterparts.
(B) Few of them owned plantations on which fewer than a hundred slaves worked.
(C) They managed their estates more efficiently than did their Russian counterparts.
(D) Few of them relied on intermediaries to manage their estates.(D)
(E) The size of their estates was larger on average than the size of Russian estates.
