Sixteenth-century English physicians, who routinely used leeches to draw blood from patients in treating a wide variety of disorders, were themselves called “leeches.” Obviously, the sixteenth-century practice of calling physicians by this name has its origin in English physicians’ use of leeches during this period to draw blood.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously calls the conclusion into question?

A) The use of leeches to draw blood for medicinal purposes was also widespread throughout continental Europe in the sixteenth century.

B) Sixteenth-century medical beliefs that drawing blood cured diseases were founded on mistaken theoretical notions about the nature of blood.

C) Sixteenth-century physicians in England used various other relatively painless methods to draw blood from people when leeches were not available.

D) Healers in many regions of fifteenth-century England were called “laeches,” from an old Scandinavian word that meant to treat or to heal.

E) Use of the word “leeches” to refer to physicians persisted in England into the nineteenth century, although routine use of leeches to draw blood had by then declined.

With its plan to develop seven and a half acres of shore land, Cleveland is but one of a large
number of communities on the Great Lakes that is looking to its waterfront as a way to improve the quality of urban life and attract new businesses.

(A) is looking to its waterfront as a way to improve the quality of urban life and attract
(B) is looking at its waterfront to improve the quality of urban life and attract
(C) are looking to their waterfronts to improve the quality of urban life and attract
(D) are looking to its waterfront as a way of improving the quality of urban life and attracting
(E) are looking at their waterfronts as a way they can improve the quality of urban life and attract

It has recently been discovered that many attributions of paintings to the seventeenth-century Dutch artist Rembrandt may be false. The contested paintings are not minor works, whose removal from the Rembrandt corpus would leave it relatively unaffected: they are at its very center. In her recent book, Svetlana Alpers uses these cases of disputed attribution as a point of departure for her provocative discussion of the radical distinctiveness of Rembrandt’s approach to painting.

Alpers argues that Rembrandt exercised an unprecedentedly firm control over his art, his students, and the distribution of his works. Despite Gary Schwartz’ brilliant documentation of Rembrandt’s complicated relations with a wide circle of patrons, Alpers takes the view that Rembrandt refused to submit to the prevailing patronage system. He preferred, she claims, to sell his works on the open market and to play the entrepreneur. At a time when Dutch artists were organizing into professional brotherhoods and academies, Rembrandt stood apart. In fact, Alpers’ portrait of Rembrandt shows virtually every aspect of his art pervaded by economic motives. Indeed, so complete was Rembrandt’s involvement with the market, she argues, that he even presented himself as commodity, viewing his studio’s products as extensions of himself, sent out into the world to earn money. Alpers asserts that Rembrandt’s enterprise is found not just in his paintings, but in his refusal to limit his enterprise to those paintings he actually painted. He marketed Rembrandt.

Although there may be some truth in the view that Rembrandt was an entrepreneur who made some aesthetic decisions on the basis of what he knew the market wanted, Alpers’ emphasis on economic factors sacrifices discussions of the aesthetic qualities that make Rembrandt’s work unique. For example, Alpers asserts that Rembrandt deliberately left his works unfinished so as to get more money for their revision and completion. She implies that Rembrandt actually wished the Council of Amsterdam to refuse the great Claudius Civilis, which they had commissioned for their new town hall, and she argues that “he must have calculated that he would be able to get more money by retouching [the] painting.” Certainly the picture is painted with very broad strokes but there is no evidence that it was deliberately left unfinished. The fact is that the look of a work like Claudius Civilis must also be understood as the consequence of Rembrandt’s powerful and profound meditations on painting itself. Alpers make no mention of the pictorial dialectic that can be discerned between, say, the lessons Rembrandt absorbed from the Haarlem school of paintings and the styles of his native Leiden. The trouble is that while Rembrandt’s artistic enterprise may indeed not be reducible to the works he himself painted, it is not reducible to marketing practices either.

1) Which one of the following best summarizes the main conclusion of the author of the passage?
(A) Rembrandt differed from other artists of his time both in his aesthetic techniques and in his desire to meet the demands of the marketplace.
(B) The aesthetic qualities of Rembrandt’s work cannot be understood without consideration of how economic motives pervaded decisions he made about his art.
(C) Rembrandt was one of the first artists to develop the notion of a work of art as a commodity that could be sold in an open marketplace.
(D) Rembrandt’s artistic achievement cannot be understood solely in terms of decisions he made on the basis of what would sell in the marketplace.
(E) Rembrandt was an entrepreneur whose artistic enterprise was not limited to the paintings he actually painted himself.

2) According to the passage, Alpers and Schwartz disagree about which one of the following?
(A) the degree of control Rembrandt exercised over the production of his art
(B) the role that Rembrandt played in organizing professional brotherhoods and academies
(C) the kinds of relationships Rembrandt had with his students
(D) the degree of Rembrandt’s involvement in the patronage system
(E) the role of the patronage system in seventeenth-century Holland

3) In the third paragraph, the author of the passage discusses aesthetic influences on Rembrandt’s work most probably in order to
(A) suggest that many critics have neglected to study the influence of the Haarlem school painters on Rembrandt’s work
(B) suggest that Claudius Civilis is similar in style to many paintings from the seventeen century
(C) suggest that Rembrandt’s style was not affected by the aesthetic influences that Alpers points out
(D) argue that Rembrandt’s style can best be understood as a result of the influences of his native Leiden
(E) indicate that Alpers has not taken into account some important aspects of Rembrandt’s work

4) Which one of the following, if true, would provide the most support for Alpers’ argument about Claudius Civilis?
(A) Rembrandt was constantly revising his prints and paintings because he was never fully satisfied with stylistic aspects of his earlier drafts.
(B) The works of many seventeenth-century Dutch artists were painted with broad strokes and had an unfinished look.
(C) Many of Rembrandt’s contemporaries eschewed the patronage system and sold their works on the open market.
(D) Artists were frequently able to raise the price of a painting if the buyer wanted the work revised in some way.
(E) Rembrandt did not allow his students to work on paintings that were commissioned by public officials.

5) It can be inferred that the author of the passage and Alpers would be most likely to agree on which one of the following?
(A) Rembrandt made certain aesthetic decision on the basis of what he understood about the demands of the marketplace.
(B) The Rembrandt corpus will not be affected if attributions of paintings to Rembrandt are found to be false.
(C) Stylistic aspects of Rembrandt’s painting can be better explained in economic terms than in historical or aesthetic terms.
(D) Certain aesthetic aspects of Rembrandt’s art are the result of his experimentation with different painting techniques.
(E) Most of Rembrandt’s best-known works were painted by his students, but were sold under Rembrandt’s name.

As an experienced labor organizer and the former head of one of the nation’s most powerful labor unions, Grayson is an excellent choice to chair the new council on business-labor relations.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion above?

(A) The new council must have the support of the nation’s labor leaders if it is to succeed.
(B) During his years as a labor leader, Grayson established a record of good relations with business leaders.
(C) The chair of the new council must be a person who can communicate directly with the leaders of the nation’s largest labor unions.
(D) Most of the other members of the new council will be representatives of business management interests.
(E) An understanding of the needs and problems of labor is the only qualification necessary for the job of chairing the new council.

Since applied scientific research is required for tech- nological advancement, many have rightly urged an increased emphasis in universities on applied research. But we must not give too little attention to basic research, even though it may have no foresee- able application, for tomorrow’s applied research will depend on the basic research of today. If the statements above are true, which of the following can be most reliably inferred?

(A) If future technological advancement is desired, basic research should receive greater
emphasis than applied research.
(B) If basic research is valued in universities, applied research should be given less emphasis than it currently has.
(C) If future technological advancement is desired, research should be limited to that with some
foreseeable application.
(D) If too little attention is given to basic research today, future technological advancement will
be jeopardized.
(E) If technological advancement is given insuffi- cient emphasis, basic research will also receive too little attention.

Advertising for weight-loss products manipulates people by arbitrarily defining key terms in ways that will serve the weight-loss industry’s goal of making money. Consider the word “overweight.” At what point does a normal person weighing x pounds become “overweight,” at x + 1 pounds, or x + 2 pounds, or x + 3 pounds? The decision to say x + 4 or whatever is purely arbitrary. The word “overweight” is totally meaningless.

Which of the following is most similar to the reasoning above?

(A) Laws that set minimum ages for certain activities such as driving a car are not intended to legislate a distinction between “child” and “adult.” Some “children” could begin to drive at 14; others not until 20 or older. But it would be prohibitively expensive to take applications on a case-by-case basis, so it is necessary to draw the line somewhere.

(B) Advertising for the hair-replacement industry doesn’t generally use terms like “bald” in an absolute sense. Instead, the ads use phrases like “hair loss.” That way anyone who began with x hairs and now has x – 1 hairs can seem to be in need of a hair-replacement technique.

(C) In the legend, Theseus is adrift in the middle of the ocean on a raft. As he salvages floating timber, he one-by-one replaces each of the timbers of the raft until none of the original timbers remain. Since it is impossible to say when the old raft became the new raft, it makes no sense to talk about the raft of Theseus.

(D) The typical school system is divided into grades, the assumption being that a student in a higher level grade is working at a more advanced level than a student in a lower level grade. But we know from experience that sixth-grade work at School X may be taught in the fifth-grade at School Y. So grade comparisons should be made only within a school.

(E) The medical practice of triage was developed by Napoleon. It divides battle casualties into three groups: Those likely to survive, those not likely to survive, and those in the middle. Surgeons then concentrate on those in the middle. The theory is that those likely to survive don’t need immediate medical attention, and those unlikely to survive won’t benefit from medical attention.

A President entering the final two years of a second term is likely to be at a severe disadvantage and is often unable to carry out a legislative program.

(A) likely to be at a severe disadvantage and is often unable to
(B) likely severely disadvantaged and often unable to
(C) liable to be severely disadvantaged and cannot often
(D) liable that he or she is at a severe disadvantage and cannot often
(E) at a severe disadvantage, often likely to be unable that he or she can

In Los Angeles, a political candidate who buys saturation TV advertising will get maximum name recognition. The statement above logically conveys which of the following?

A) TV advertising is the most important factor in political campaigns in Los Angeles.
B) Maximum name recognition in Los Angeles will help a candidate to win a higher percentage of votes cast in the city.
C) Saturation TV advertising reaches every demographically distinct sector of the voting population of Los Angeles.
D) For maximum name recognition a candidate need not spend on media channels other than TV advertising.
E) A candidate’s record of achievement in the Los Angeles area will do little to affect his or her name recognition there.

What it means to “explain” something in science often comes down to the application of mathematics. Some thinkers hold that mathematics is a kind of language—a systematic contrivance of signs, the criteria for the authority of which are internal coherence, elegance, and depth. The application of such a highly artificial system to the physical world, they claim, results in the creation of a kind of statement about the world. Accordingly, what matters in the sciences is finding a mathematical concept that attempts, as other language does, to accurately describe the functioning of some aspect of the world.

At the center of the issue of scientific knowledge can thus be found questions about the relationship between language and what it refers to. A discussion about the role played by language in the pursuit of knowledge has been going on among linguists for several decades. The debate centers around whether language corresponds in some essential way to objects and behaviors, making knowledge a solid and reliable commodity; or, on the other hand, whether the relationship between language and things is purely a matter of agreed-upon conventions, making knowledge tenuous, relative, and inexact.

Lately the latter theory has been gaining wider acceptance. According to linguists who support this theory, the way language is used varies depending upon changes in accepted practices and theories among those who work in particular discipline. These linguists argue that, in the pursuit of knowledge, a statement is true only when there are no promising alternatives that might lead one to question it. Certainly this characterization would seem to be applicable to the sciences. In science, a mathematical statement may be taken to account for every aspect of a phenomenon it is applied to, but, some would argue, there is nothing inherent in mathematical language that guarantees such a correspondence. Under this view, acceptance of a mathematical statement by the scientific community—by virtue of the statement’s predictive power or methodological efficiency—transforms what is basically an analogy or metaphor into an explanation of the physical process in question, to be held as true until another, more compelling analogy takes its place.

In pursuing the implications of this theory, linguists have reached the point at which they must ask: If words or sentences do not correspond in an essential way to life or to our ideas about life, then just what are they capable of telling us about the world? In science and mathematics, then, it would seem equally necessary to ask: If models of electrolytes or E=mc2, say, do not correspond essentially to the physical world, then just what functions do they perform in the acquisition of scientific knowledge? But this question has yet to be significantly addressed in the sciences.

1) Which one of the following statements most accurately expresses the passage’s main point?
(A) Although scientists must rely on both language and mathematics in their pursuit of scientific knowledge, each is an imperfect tool for perceiving and interpreting aspects of the physical world.
(B) The acquisition of scientific knowledge depends on an agreement among scientists to accept some mathematical statements as more precise than others while acknowledging that all mathematics is inexact.
(C) If science is truly to progress, scientists must temporarily abandon the pursuit of new knowledge in favor of a systematic analysis of how the knowledge they already possess came to be accepted as true.
(D) In order to better understand the acquisition of scientific knowledge, scientists must investigate mathematical statements’ relationship to the world just as linguists study language’s relationship to the world.
(E) Without the debates among linguists that preceded them, it is unlikely that scientists would ever have begun to explore the essential role played by mathematics in the acquisition of scientific knowledge.

2) Which one of the following statements, if true, lends the most support to the view that language has an essential correspondence to things it describes?
(A) The categories of physical objects employed by one language correspond remarkably to the categories employed by another language that developed independently of the first.
(B) The categories of physical objects employed by one language correspond remarkably to the categories employed by another language that derives from the first.
(C) The categories of physical objects employed by speakers of a language correspond remarkably to the categories employed by other speakers of the same language.
(D) The sentence structures of languages in scientifically sophisticated societies vary little from language to language.
(E) Native speakers of many languages believe that the categories of physical objects employed by their language correspond to natural categories of objects in the world.

3) According to the passage, mathematics can be considered a language because it
(A) conveys meaning in the same way that metaphors do
(B) constitutes a systematic collection of signs
(C) corresponds exactly to aspects of physical phenomena
(D) confers explanatory power on scientific theories
(E) relies on previously agreed-upon conventions

4) The primary purpose of the third paragraph is to
(A) offer support for the view of linguists who believe that language has an essential correspondence to things
(B) elaborate the position of linguists who believe that truth is merely a matter of convention
(C) illustrate the differences between the essentialist and conventionalist position in the linguists’ debate
(D) demonstrate the similarity of the linguists’ debate to a current debate among scientists about the nature of explanation
(E) explain the theory that mathematical statements are a kind of language

5) Based on the passage, linguists who subscribes to the theory described in lines 21-24 would hold that the statement “the ball is red” is true because
(A) speakers of English have accepted that “the ball is red” applies to the particular physical relationship being described
(B) speakers of English do not accept that synonyms for “ball” and “red” express these concepts as elegantly
(C) “The ball is red” corresponds essentially to every aspect of the particular physical relationship being described
(D) “ball” and “red” actually refer to an entity and a property respectively
(E) “ball” and “red” are mathematical concepts that attempt to accurately describe some particular physical relationship in the world

A prolific architect who worked from the turn of the century until the late 1950’s, Julia Morgan designed nearly 800 buildings in California, perhaps most notably William Randolph Hearst’s monumental estate at San Simeon.

(A) Julia Morgan designed nearly 800 buildings in California, perhaps most notably William Randolph Hearst’s monumental estate at San Simeon
(B) perhaps the most notable of the nearly 800 buildings in California designed by Julia Morgan was William Randolph Hearst’s monumental estate at San Simeon
(C) of the nearly 800 buildings in California designed by Julia Morgan, perhaps the most notable was William Randolph Hearst’s monumental estate at San Simeon
(D) nearly 800 buildings in California were designed by Julia Morgan, of which William Randolph Hearst’s monumental estate at San Simeon is perhaps the most notable
(E) William Randolph Hearst’s monumental estate at San Simeon is perhaps the most notable of the nearly 800 buildings in California designed by Julia Morgan

It is widely assumed that a museum is helped finan- cially when a generous patron donates a potential exhibit. In truth, however, donated objects require storage space, which is not free, and routine conser- vation, which is rather expensive. Therefore, such gifts exacerbate rather than lighten the demands made on a museum’s financial resources. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?

(A) To keep patrons well disposed, a museum will find it advisable to put at least some donated
objects on exhibit rather than merely in storage.
(B) The people who are most likely to donate valu- able objects to a museum are also the people
who are most likely to make cash gifts to it.
(C) A museum cannot save money by resorting to cheap storage under less than adequate con-
ditions, because so doing would drive up the cost of conservation.
(D) Patrons expect a museum to keep donated objects in its possession rather than to raise
cash by selling them.
(E) Objects donated by a patron to a museum are often of such importance that the museum
would be obliged to add them to its collec-tion through purchase if necessary.

Since the early 1920s, most petroleum geologists have favored a biogenic theory for the formation of oil. According to this theory, organic matter became buried in sediments, and subsequent conditions of temperature and pressure over time transformed it into oil.
Since 1979 an opposing abiogenic theory about the origin of oil has been promulgated. According to this theory, what is now oil began as hydrocarbon compounds within the earth’s mantle (the region between the core and the crust) during the formation of the earth. Oil was created when gasses rich in methane, the lightest of the hydrocarbons, rose from the mantle through fractures and faults in the crust, carrying a significant amount of heavier hydrocarbons with them. As the gases encountered intermittent drops in pressure, the heavier hydrocarbons condensed, forming oil, and were deposited in reservoirs throughout the crust. Rock regions deformed by motions of the crustal plates provided the conduits and fractures necessary for the gases to rise through the crust.

Opponents of the abiogenic theory charge that hydrocarbons could not exist in the mantle, because high temperatures would destroy or break them down. Advocates of the theory, however, point out that other types of carbon exist in the mantle: unoxidized carbon must exist there, because diamonds are formed within the mantle before being brought to the surface by eruptive processes. Proponents of the abiogenic theory also point to recent experimental work that suggests that the higher pressures within the mantle tend to offset the higher temperatures, allowing hydrocarbons, like unoxidized carbon, to continue to exist in the mantle.

If the abiogenic theory is correct, vast undiscovered reservoirs of oil and gas—undiscovered because the biogenic model precludes their existence—may in actuality exist. One company owned by the Swedish government has found the abiogenic theory so persuasive that it has started exploratory drilling for gas or oil in a granite formation called the Siljan Ring—not the best place to look for gas or oil if one believes they are derived from organic compounds, because granite forms from magma (molten rock) and contains no organic sediments. The ring was formed about 360 million years ago when a large meteorite hit the 600-million-year-old granite that forms the base of the continental crust. The impact fractured the granite, and the Swedes believe that if oil comes from the mantle, it could have risen with methane gas through this now permeable rock. Fueling their optimism further is the fact that prior to the start of drilling, methane gas had been detected rising through the granite.

1) Which one of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the passage?
(A) Although the new abiogenic theory about the origin of oil is derived from the conventional biogenic theory, it suggests new types of locations for oil drilling.
(B) The small number of drilling companies that have responded to the new abiogenic theory about the origin of oil reflects the minimal level of acceptance the theory has met with in the scientific community.
(C) Although the new abiogenic theory about the origin of oil fails to explain several enigmas about oil reservoirs, it is superior to the conventional biogenic theory.
(D) Although it has yet to receive either support or refutation by data gathered from a drilling project, the new abiogenic theory about the origin of oil offers a plausible alternative to the conventional biogenic theory.
(E) Having answered objections about higher pressures in the earth’s core, proponents of the new abiogenic theory have gained broad acceptance for their theory in the scientific community.

2) Which one of the following best describes the function of the third paragraph?
(A) It presents a view opposed to a theory and points out an internal contradiction in that opposing view.
(B) It describes a criticism of a theory and provides countervailing evidence to the criticism.
(C) It identifies a conflict between two views of a theory and revises both views.
(D) It explains an argument against a theory and shows it to be a valid criticism.
(E) It points out the correspondence between an argument against one theory and arguments against similar theories.

3) The passage suggests that the opponents of the abiogenic theory mentioned in the third paragraph would most probably agree with which one of the following statements?
(A) The formation of oil does not involve the condensation of hydrocarbons released from the earth’s mantle.
(B) Large oil reserves are often found in locations that contain small amounts of organic matter.
(C) The eruptive processes by which diamonds are brought to the earth’s surface are similar to those that aid in the formation of oil.
(D) Motions of the crustal plates often create the pressure necessary to transform organic matter into oil.
(E) The largest known oil reserves may have resulted from organic matter combining with heavier hydrocarbons carried by methane gas.

4) Which one of the following is most analogous to the situation described in the final paragraph?
(A) A new theory about the annual cycles of breeding and migration of the monarch butterfly has led scientists to look for similar patterns in other butterfly species.
(B) A new theory about the stage at which a star collapses into a black hole has led astronomers to search for evidence of black holes in parts of the universe where they had not previously searched.
(C) A new theory about how the emission of sulfur dioxide during coal-burning can be reduced has led several companies to develop desulfurization systems.
(D) A new theory about photosynthesis has convinced a research team to explore in new ways the various functions of the cell membrane in plant cells.
(E) A new theory about the distribution of metals in rock formations has convinced a silver-mining company to keep different types of records of its operations.

5) According to the passage all of the following are true of the Siljan Ring EXCEPT:
(A) It was formed from magma.
(B) It does not contain organic sediments.
(C) Its ring shape existed 500 million years ago.
(D) Methane gas has been detected rising through it.
(E) It was shaped from the granite that makes up the base of the continental crust.

A proposal has been made to trim the horns from rhinoceroses to discourage poachers; the question is whether tourists will continue to visit game parks and see rhinoceroses after their horns are trimmed.

(A) whether tourists will continue to visit game parks and see rhinoceroses after their horns are
(B) whether tourists will continue to visit game parks to see one once their horns are
(C) whether tourists will continue to visit game parks to see rhinoceroses once the animals’ horns have been
(D) if tourists will continue to visit game parks and see rhinoceroses once the animals’ horns are
(E) if tourists will continue to visit game parks to see one after the animals’ horns have been

In Aristophanes’ Lysistrata women are seen as the means of bringing peace and good sense to a wartorn world.

(A) as
(B) as if they are
(C) that they will be
(D) that they are
(E) for being

Beavers use twigs to construct dams. Different regional populations of beavers will use different techniques for constructing dams. Researchers studying beaver construction techniques have found that regional populations of beavers use different construction techniques. Researchers have concluded that these building techniques are culturally based rather than genetic. Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion drawn by the researchers?

(A) Studies have shown that beavers are nearly as intelligent as dogs.
(B) Young beavers cannot build dams alone and carefully mimic how their parents build them.
(C) The dams built vary in their effectiveness in holding back water levels depending on a region’s rainfall level.
(D) Beaver populations are often located in mountainous regions that isolate population groups.
(E) The dam construction is primarily based on the water flow rates in specific regions

When catastrophe strikes, analysts typically blame some combination of powerful mechanisms. An earthquake is traced to an immense instability along a fault line; a stock market crash is blamed on the destabilizing effect of computer trading. These explanations may well be correct. But systems as large and complicated as the Earth’s crust or the stock market can break down not only under the force of a mighty blow but also at the drop of a pin. In a large interactive system, a minor event can start a chain reaction that leads to a catastrophe.

Traditionally, investigators have analyzed large interactive systems in the same way they analyze small orderly systems, mainly because the methods developed for small systems have proved so successful. They believed they could predict the behavior of a large interactive system by studying its elements separately and by analyzing its component mechanisms individually. For lack of a better theory, they assumed that in large interactive systems the response to a disturbance is proportional to that disturbance.
During the past few decades, however, it has become increasingly apparent that many large complicated systems do not yield to traditional analysis. Consequently, theorists have proposed a “theory of self-organized criticality”: many large interactive systems evolve naturally to a critical state in which a minor event starts a chain reaction that can affect any number of elements in the system. Although such systems produce more minor events than catastrophes, the mechanism that leads to minor events is the same one that leads to major events.

A deceptively simple system serves as a paradigm for self-organized criticality: a pile of sand. As sand is poured one grain at a time onto a flat disk, the grains at first stay close to the position where they land. Soon they rest on top of one another, creating a pile that has a gentle slope. Now and then, when the slope becomes too steep, the grains slide down, causing a small avalanche. The system reaches its critical state when the amount of sand added is balanced, on average, by the amount falling off the edge of the disk.

Now when a grain of sand is added, it can start an avalanche of any size, including a “catastrophic” event. Most of the time the grain will fall so that no avalanche occurs. By studying a specific area of the pile, one can even predict whether avalanches will occur there in the near future. To such a local observer, however, large avalanches would remain unpredictable because they are a consequence of the total history of the entire pile. No matter what the local dynamics are, catastrophic avalanches would persist at a relative frequency that cannot be altered: Criticality is a global property of the sandpile.

1) The passage provides support for all of the following generalizations about large interactive systems EXCEPT:
(A) They can evolve to a critical state.
(B) They do not always yield to traditional analysis.
(C) They make it impossible for observers to make any predictions about them.
(D) They are subject to the effects of chain reactions.
(E) They are subject to more minor events than major events.

2) According to the passage, the criticality of a sandpile is determined by the
(A) size of the grains of sand added to the sandpile
(B) number of grains of sand the sandpile contains
(C) rate at which sand is added to the sandpile
(D) shape of the surface on which the sandpile rests
(E) balance between the amount of sand added to and the amount lost from the sandpile

3) It can be inferred from the passage that the theory employed by the investigators mentioned in the second paragraph would lead one to predict that which one of the following would result from the addition of a grain of sand to a sandpile?
(A) The grain of sand would never cause anything more than a minor disturbance.
(B) The grain of sand would usually cause a minor disturbance, but would occasionally cause a small avalanche.
(C) The grain of sand would usually cause either minor disturbance or a small avalanche, but would occasionally cause a catastrophic event.
(D) The grain of sand would usually cause a catastrophic event, but would occasionally cause only a small avalanche or an event more minor disturbance.
(E) The grain of sand would invariably cause a catastrophic event.

4) Which one of the following best describes the organization of the passage?
(A) A traditional procedure is described and its application to common situations is endorsed: its shortcomings in certain rare but critical circumstances are then revealed.
(B) A common misconception is elaborated and its consequences are described a detailed example of one of these consequences is then given.
(C) A general principle is stated and supported by several examples; an exception to the rule is then considered and its importance evaluated.
(D) A number of seemingly unrelated events are categorized: the underlying processes that connect them are then detailed.
(E) A traditional method of analysis is discussed and the reasons for its adoption are explained; an alternative is then described and clarified by means of an example.

5) Which one of the following is most analogous to the method of analysis employed by the investigators mentioned in the second paragraph?
(A) A pollster gathers a sample of voter preferences and on the basis of this information makes a prediction about the outcome of an election.
(B) A historian examines the surviving documents detailing the history of a movement and from these documents reconstructs a chronology of the events that initiated the movement.
(C) A meteorologist measures the rainfall over a certain period of the year and from this data calculates the total annual rainfall for the region.
(D) A biologist observes the behavior of one species of insect and from these observations generalizes about the behavior of insects as a class.
(E) An engineer analyzes the stability of each structural element of a bridge and from these analyses draws a conclusion about the structural soundness of the bridge.

6) In the passage, the author is primarily concerned with
(A) arguing against the abandonment of a traditional approach
(B) describing the evolution of a radical theory
(C) reconciling conflicting points of view
(D) illustrating the superiority of a new theoretical approach
(E) advocating the reconsideration of an unfashionable explanation

According to a panel of health officials, there has been a great deal of confusion in the medical profession about whether obesity is a biological disorder posing serious health risks or a condition more related to appearance than to health.
(A) about whether obesity is a biological disorder posing serious health risks or a condition more related to appearance than to
(B) with respect to obesity being a biological disorder posing serious health risks or if it is related more to appearance than
(C) over whether or not obesity is a biological disorder posing serious health risks or it is a condition more related to appearance than to
(D) about obesity and if it is a biological disorder posing serious health risks or a condition related to appearance more than to
(E) concerning whether obesity is a biological disorder posing serious health risks or it is a condition related to appearance more than

A recent national study of the public schools shows that there are now one microcomputer for every thirty-two pupils, four times as many than there were four years ago.

(A) there are now one microcomputer for every thirty-two pupils, four times as many than there were
(B) there is now one microcomputer for every thirty-two pupils, four times as many than there were
(C) there is now one microcomputer for every thirty-two pupils, four times as many as there were
(D) every thirty-two pupils now have one microcomputer, four times as many than there were
(E) every thirty-two pupils now has one microcomputer, four times as many as

A recent New York Times editorial criticized the city’s election board for, first of all, failing to replace outmoded voting machines prone to breakdowns, and secondarily, for their failure to investigate allegations of corruption involving board members.

(A) secondarily, for their failure to
(B) secondly, for their failure to
(C) secondly, that they failed and did not
(D) second, that they failed to
(E) second, for failing to

 A recent study has found that within the past few years, many doctors had elected early retirement rather than face the threats of lawsuits and the rising costs of malpractice insurance.

(A) had elected early retirement rather than face
(B) had elected early retirement instead of facing
(C) have elected retiring early instead of facing
(D) have elected to retire early rather than facing
(E) have elected to retire early rather than face

A recent study of ancient clay deposits has provided new evidence supporting the theory of global forest fires ignited by a meteorite impact that contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs and many other creatures some 65 million years ago.

(A) supporting the theory of global forest fires ignited by a meteorite impact that
(B) supporting the theory that global forest fires ignited by a meteorite impact
(C) that supports the theory of global forest fires that were ignited by a meteorite impact and that
(D) in support of the theory that global forest fires were ignited by a meteorite impact and that
(E) of support for the theory of a meteorite impact that ignited global forest fires and