Question:
Miss Grace Spivey arrived in Threestep, Georgia, in August 1938. She stepped off the train wearing a pair of thick-soled boots suitable for hiking, a navyblue dress, and a little white tam that rode the wavesof her red hair at a gravity-defying angle. August was a hellish month to step off the train in Georgia, although it was nothing, she said, compared to the 119 degrees that greeted her when she arrived one time in Timbuktu, which, she assured us, was a real 10 place in Africa. I believe her remark irritated some of the people gathered to welcome her on the burned grass alongside the tracks. When folks are sweating through their shorts, they don't like to hear that this is nothing compared to someplace else. Irritated or15 not, the majority of those present were inclined to see the arrival of the new schoolteacher in a positive light. Hard times were still upon us in 1938, but, like my momma said, "We weren't no poorer than we'd ever been," and the citizens of Threestep were in the 20 mood for a little excitement.Miss Spivey looked like just the right person to give it to them. She was, by almost anyone's standards, a woman of the world. She'd gone to boarding schools since she was six years old; she'd 25 studied French in Paris and drama in London; and during what she called a "fruitful intermission" in her formal education, she had traveled extensively in the Near East and Africa with a friend of her grandmother's, one Janet Miller, who was a medical30 doctor from Nashville, Tennessee. After her travels with Dr. Miller, Miss Spivey continued her education by attending Barnard College in New York City. She told us all that at school the first day. When my little brother Ralphord asked what did she study at35 Barnyard College, Miss Spivey explained that Barnard, which she wrote on the blackboard, was the sister school of Columbia University, of which, she expected, we all had heard.It was there, she told us, in the midst of trying to 40 find her true mission in life, that she wandered one afternoon into a lecture by the famous John Dewey, who was talking about his famous book, Democracy and Education. Professor Dewey was in his seventies by then, Miss Spivey said, but he still liked to chat45 with students after a lecture-especially female students, she added-sometimes over coffee, and see in their eyes the fire his words could kindle. It was after this lecture and subsequent coffee that Miss Spivey had marched to the Teacher's College and 50 signed up, all aflame. Two years later, she told a cheery blue-suited woman from the $\mathrm{WPA}^{1}$ that she wanted to bring democracy and education to the poorest, darkest, most remote and forgotten corner of America.55 They sent her to Threestep, Georgia.Miss Spivey paused there for questions, avoiding my brother Ralphord's eye.What we really wanted to know about-all twenty-six of us across seven grade levels in the one 60 room-was the pearly white button hanging on a string in front of the blackboard behind the teacher's desk up front. That button on a string was something new. When Mavis Davis (the only bona fide seventh grader, at age thirteen) asked what it was for, Miss65 Spivey gave the string a tug, and to our astonishment, the whole world-or at least a wrinkled map of it-unfolded before our eyes. Her predecessor, Miss Chandler, had never once made use of that map, which was older than our fathers, and until that70 moment, not a one of us knew it was there.Miss Spivey showed us on the map how she and Dr. Janet Miller had sailed across the Atlantic Ocean and past the Rock of Gibraltar into theMediterranean Sea. Using the end of a ruler, she75 gently tapped such places as Morocco and Tunis and Algiers to mark their route along the top of Africa. They spent twenty hours on the train to Baghdad, she said, swathed in veils against the sand that crept in every crack and crevice.80 "And can you guess what we saw from the train?" Miss Spivey asked. We could not. "Camels!" she said. "We saw a whole caravan of camels." She looked around the room, waiting for us to be amazed and delighted at the thought.85 We all hung there for a minute, thinking hard, until Mavis Davis spoke up."She means like the three kings rode to Bethlehem," Mavis said, and she folded her hands smugly on her seventh-grade desk in the back of the 90 room.Miss Spivey made a mistake right then. Instead of beaming upon Mavis the kind of congratulatory smile that old Miss Chandler would have bestowed on her for having enlightened the rest of us, Miss95 Spivey simply said, "That's right."1 The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was a government agency that hired people for public and cultural development projects and services.
Question: It can reasonably be inferred from the passage that some of the people at the train station regard Miss Spivey's comment about the Georgia heat with
 A. sympathy, because they assume that she is experiencing intense heat for the first time.
 B. disappointment, because they doubt that she will stay in Threestep for very long.
 C. embarrassment, because they imagine that she is superior to them.
 D. resentment, because they feel that she is minimizing their discomfort.
Answer:

Choices:
- A
- B
- C
- D

Miss Grace Spivey arrived in Threestep, Georgia, in August 1938. She stepped off the train wearing a pair of thick-soled boots suitable for hiking, a navyblue dress, and a little white tam that rode the wavesof her red hair at a gravity-defying angle. August was a hellish month to step off the train in Georgia, although it was nothing, she said, compared to the 119 degrees that greeted her when she arrived one time in Timbuktu, which, she assured us, was a real 10 place in Africa. I believe her remark irritated some of the people gathered to welcome her on the burned grass alongside the tracks. When folks are sweating through their shorts, they don't like to hear that this is nothing compared to someplace else. Irritated or15 not, the majority of those present were inclined to see the arrival of the new schoolteacher in a positive light. Hard times were still upon us in 1938, but, like my momma said, "We weren't no poorer than we'd ever been," and the citizens of Threestep were in the 20 mood for a little excitement.Miss Spivey looked like just the right person to give it to them. She was, by almost anyone's standards, a woman of the world. She'd gone to boarding schools since she was six years old; she'd 25 studied French in Paris and drama in London; and during what she called a "fruitful intermission" in her formal education, she had traveled extensively in the Near East and Africa with a friend of her grandmother's, one Janet Miller, who was a medical30 doctor from Nashville, Tennessee. After her travels with Dr. Miller, Miss Spivey continued her education by attending Barnard College in New York City. She told us all that at school the first day. When my little brother Ralphord asked what did she study at35 Barnyard College, Miss Spivey explained that Barnard, which she wrote on the blackboard, was the sister school of Columbia University, of which, she expected, we all had heard.It was there, she told us, in the midst of trying to 40 find her true mission in life, that she wandered one afternoon into a lecture by the famous John Dewey, who was talking about his famous book, Democracy and Education. Professor Dewey was in his seventies by then, Miss Spivey said, but he still liked to chat45 with students after a lecture-especially female students, she added-sometimes over coffee, and see in their eyes the fire his words could kindle. It was after this lecture and subsequent coffee that Miss Spivey had marched to the Teacher's College and 50 signed up, all aflame. Two years later, she told a cheery blue-suited woman from the $\mathrm{WPA}^{1}$ that she wanted to bring democracy and education to the poorest, darkest, most remote and forgotten corner of America.55 They sent her to Threestep, Georgia.Miss Spivey paused there for questions, avoiding my brother Ralphord's eye.What we really wanted to know about-all twenty-six of us across seven grade levels in the one 60 room-was the pearly white button hanging on a string in front of the blackboard behind the teacher's desk up front. That button on a string was something new. When Mavis Davis (the only bona fide seventh grader, at age thirteen) asked what it was for, Miss65 Spivey gave the string a tug, and to our astonishment, the whole world-or at least a wrinkled map of it-unfolded before our eyes. Her predecessor, Miss Chandler, had never once made use of that map, which was older than our fathers, and until that70 moment, not a one of us knew it was there.Miss Spivey showed us on the map how she and Dr. Janet Miller had sailed across the Atlantic Ocean and past the Rock of Gibraltar into theMediterranean Sea. Using the end of a ruler, she75 gently tapped such places as Morocco and Tunis and Algiers to mark their route along the top of Africa. They spent twenty hours on the train to Baghdad, she said, swathed in veils against the sand that crept in every crack and crevice.80 "And can you guess what we saw from the train?" Miss Spivey asked. We could not. "Camels!" she said. "We saw a whole caravan of camels." She looked around the room, waiting for us to be amazed and delighted at the thought.85 We all hung there for a minute, thinking hard, until Mavis Davis spoke up."She means like the three kings rode to Bethlehem," Mavis said, and she folded her hands smugly on her seventh-grade desk in the back of the 90 room.Miss Spivey made a mistake right then. Instead of beaming upon Mavis the kind of congratulatory smile that old Miss Chandler would have bestowed on her for having enlightened the rest of us, Miss95 Spivey simply said, "That's right."1 The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was a government agency that hired people for public and cultural development projects and services.
Question: It can reasonably be inferred from the passage that some of the people at the train station regard Miss Spivey's comment about the Georgia heat with
 A. sympathy, because they assume that she is experiencing intense heat for the first time.
 B. disappointment, because they doubt that she will stay in Threestep for very long.
 C. embarrassment, because they imagine that she is superior to them.
 D. resentment, because they feel that she is minimizing their discomfort.
Answer: D


Question:
Lady Carlotta stepped out on to the platform of the small wayside station and took a turn or two up and down its uninteresting length, to kill time till the  train should be pleased to proceed on its way. Then,in the roadway beyond, she saw a horse struggling with a more than ample load, and a carter of the sort that seems to bear a sullen hatred against the animal that helps him to earn a living. Lady Carlotta promptly betook her to the roadway, and put rather a 10 different complexion on the struggle. Certain of her acquaintances were wont to give her plentiful admonition as to the undesirability of interfering on behalf of a distressed animal, such interference being "none of her business." Only once had she put the 1 doctrine of non-interference into practice, when one of its most eloquent exponents had been besieged for nearly three hours in a small and extremely uncomfortable may-tree by an angry boar-pig, while Lady Carlotta, on the other side of the fence, had20 proceeded with the water-colour sketch she was engaged on, and refused to interfere between the boar and his prisoner. It is to be feared that she lost the friendship of the ultimately rescued lady. On this occasion she merely lost the train, which gave way to 25 the first sign of impatience it had shown throughout the journey, and steamed off without her. She bore the desertion with philosophical indifference; her friends and relations were thoroughly well used to the fact of her luggage arriving without her.30 She wired a vague non-committal message to her destination to say that she was coming on "by another train." Before she had time to think what her next move might be she was confronted by an imposingly attired lady, who seemed to be taking a 35 prolonged mental inventory of her clothes and looks."You must be Miss Hope, the governess I've come to meet," said the apparition, in a tone that admitted of very little argument."Very well, if I must I must," said Lady Carlotta to 40 herself with dangerous meekness."I am Mrs. Quabarl," continued the lady; "and where, pray, is your luggage?""It's gone astray," said the alleged governess, falling in with the excellent rule of life that the absent 45 are always to blame; the luggage had, in point of fact, behaved with perfect correctitude. "I've just telegraphed about it," she added, with a nearer approach to truth."How provoking," said Mrs. Quabarl; "these 50 railway companies are so careless. However, my maid can lend you things for the night," and she led the way to her car.During the drive to the Quabarl mansion Lady Carlotta was impressively introduced to the 55 nature of the charge that had been thrust upon her; she learned that Claude and Wilfrid were delicate, sensitive young people, that Irene had the artistic temperament highly developed, and that Viola was something or other else of a mould equally60 commonplace among children of that class and type in the twentieth century."I wish them not only to be TAUGHT," said Mrs. Quabarl, "but INTERESTED in what they learn. In their history lessons, for instance, you must try to65 make them feel that they are being introduced to the life-stories of men and women who really lived, not merely committing a mass of names and dates to memory. French, of course, I shall expect you to talk at meal-times several days in the week."70 "I shall talk French four days of the week and Russian in the remaining three.""Russian? My dear Miss Hope, no one in the house speaks or understands Russian.""That will not embarrass me in the least," said 75 Lady Carlotta coldly.Mrs. Quabarl, to use a colloquial expression, was knocked off her perch. She was one of those imperfectly self-assured individuals who are magnificent and autocratic as long as they are not80 seriously opposed. The least show of unexpected resistance goes a long way towards rendering them cowed and apologetic. When the new governess failed to express wondering admiration of the large newly-purchased and expensive car, and lightly85 alluded to the superior advantages of one or two makes which had just been put on the market, the discomfiture of her patroness became almost abject. Her feelings were those which might have animated a general of ancient warfaring days, on beholding his 90 heaviest battle-elephant ignominiously driven off the field by slingers and javelin throwers.
Question: Which choice best summarizes the passage?
 A. A woman weighs the positive and negative aspects of accepting a new job.
 B. A woman does not correct a stranger who mistakes her for someone else.
 C. A woman impersonates someone else to seek revenge on an acquaintance.
 D. A woman takes an immediate dislike to her new employer.
Answer:

Choices:
- A
- B
- C
- D

Lady Carlotta stepped out on to the platform of the small wayside station and took a turn or two up and down its uninteresting length, to kill time till the  train should be pleased to proceed on its way. Then,in the roadway beyond, she saw a horse struggling with a more than ample load, and a carter of the sort that seems to bear a sullen hatred against the animal that helps him to earn a living. Lady Carlotta promptly betook her to the roadway, and put rather a 10 different complexion on the struggle. Certain of her acquaintances were wont to give her plentiful admonition as to the undesirability of interfering on behalf of a distressed animal, such interference being "none of her business." Only once had she put the 1 doctrine of non-interference into practice, when one of its most eloquent exponents had been besieged for nearly three hours in a small and extremely uncomfortable may-tree by an angry boar-pig, while Lady Carlotta, on the other side of the fence, had20 proceeded with the water-colour sketch she was engaged on, and refused to interfere between the boar and his prisoner. It is to be feared that she lost the friendship of the ultimately rescued lady. On this occasion she merely lost the train, which gave way to 25 the first sign of impatience it had shown throughout the journey, and steamed off without her. She bore the desertion with philosophical indifference; her friends and relations were thoroughly well used to the fact of her luggage arriving without her.30 She wired a vague non-committal message to her destination to say that she was coming on "by another train." Before she had time to think what her next move might be she was confronted by an imposingly attired lady, who seemed to be taking a 35 prolonged mental inventory of her clothes and looks."You must be Miss Hope, the governess I've come to meet," said the apparition, in a tone that admitted of very little argument."Very well, if I must I must," said Lady Carlotta to 40 herself with dangerous meekness."I am Mrs. Quabarl," continued the lady; "and where, pray, is your luggage?""It's gone astray," said the alleged governess, falling in with the excellent rule of life that the absent 45 are always to blame; the luggage had, in point of fact, behaved with perfect correctitude. "I've just telegraphed about it," she added, with a nearer approach to truth."How provoking," said Mrs. Quabarl; "these 50 railway companies are so careless. However, my maid can lend you things for the night," and she led the way to her car.During the drive to the Quabarl mansion Lady Carlotta was impressively introduced to the 55 nature of the charge that had been thrust upon her; she learned that Claude and Wilfrid were delicate, sensitive young people, that Irene had the artistic temperament highly developed, and that Viola was something or other else of a mould equally60 commonplace among children of that class and type in the twentieth century."I wish them not only to be TAUGHT," said Mrs. Quabarl, "but INTERESTED in what they learn. In their history lessons, for instance, you must try to65 make them feel that they are being introduced to the life-stories of men and women who really lived, not merely committing a mass of names and dates to memory. French, of course, I shall expect you to talk at meal-times several days in the week."70 "I shall talk French four days of the week and Russian in the remaining three.""Russian? My dear Miss Hope, no one in the house speaks or understands Russian.""That will not embarrass me in the least," said 75 Lady Carlotta coldly.Mrs. Quabarl, to use a colloquial expression, was knocked off her perch. She was one of those imperfectly self-assured individuals who are magnificent and autocratic as long as they are not80 seriously opposed. The least show of unexpected resistance goes a long way towards rendering them cowed and apologetic. When the new governess failed to express wondering admiration of the large newly-purchased and expensive car, and lightly85 alluded to the superior advantages of one or two makes which had just been put on the market, the discomfiture of her patroness became almost abject. Her feelings were those which might have animated a general of ancient warfaring days, on beholding his 90 heaviest battle-elephant ignominiously driven off the field by slingers and javelin throwers.
Question: Which choice best summarizes the passage?
 A. A woman weighs the positive and negative aspects of accepting a new job.
 B. A woman does not correct a stranger who mistakes her for someone else.
 C. A woman impersonates someone else to seek revenge on an acquaintance.
 D. A woman takes an immediate dislike to her new employer.
Answer: B


Question:
Even then my only friends were made of paper and ink. At school I had learned to read and write long before the other children. Where my school  friends saw notches of ink on incomprehensiblepages, I saw light, streets, and people. Words and the mystery of their hidden science fascinated me, and I saw in them a key with which I could unlock a boundless world, a safe haven from that home, those streets, and those troubled days in which even Icould sense that only a limited fortune awaited me. My father didn't like to see books in the house. There was something about them-apart from the letters he could not decipher-that offended him. He used to tell me that as soon as I was ten he would 15 send me off to work and that I'd better get rid of all my scatterbrained ideas if I didn't want to end up a loser, a nobody. I used to hide my books under the mattress and wait for him to go out or fall asleep so that I could read. Once he caught me reading at night20 and flew into a rage. He tore the book from my hands and flung it out of the window."If I catch you wasting electricity again, reading all this nonsense, you'll be sorry."My father was not a miser and, despite the 25 hardships we suffered, whenever he could he gave me a few coins so that I could buy myself some treats like the other children. He was convinced that I spent them on licorice sticks, sunflower seeds, or sweets, but I would keep them in a coffee tin under the bed, 30 and when I'd collected four or five reales I'd secretly rush out to buy myself a book.My favorite place in the whole city was the Sempere \& Sons bookshop on Calle Santa Ana. It smelled of old paper and dust and it was my35 sanctuary, my refuge. The bookseller would let me sit on a chair in a corner and read any book I liked to my heart's content. He hardly ever allowed me to pay for the books he placed in my hands, but when he wasn't looking I'd leave the coins I'd managed to 40 collect on the counter before I left. It was only small change-if I'd had to buy a book with that pittance, I would probably have been able to afford only a booklet of cigarette papers. When it was time for me to leave, I would do so dragging my feet, a weight on $45 \mathrm{my}$ soul. If it had been up to me, I would have stayed there forever.One Christmas Sempere gave me the best gift I have ever received. It was an old volume, read and experienced to the full.50 "Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens," I read on the cover.I was aware that Sempere knew a few authors who frequented his establishment and, judging by the care with which he handled the volume, I thought 55 perhaps this Mr. Dickens was one of them."A friend of yours?""A lifelong friend. And from now on, he's your friend too." That afternoon I took my new friend home, 60 hidden under my clothes so that my father wouldn't see it. It was a rainy winter, with days as gray as lead, and I read Great Expectations about nine times, partly because I had no other book at hand, partly because I did not think there could be a better one in 65 the whole world and I was beginning to suspect that Mr. Dickens had written it just for me. Soon I was convinced that I didn't want to do anything else in life but learn to do what Mr. Dickens had done.
Question: done") The narrator indicates that he pays Sempere
 A. less than Sempere expects him to pay for the books.
 B. nothing, because Sempere won't take his money.
 C. the money he makes selling sweets to the other children.
 D. much less for the books than they are worth.
Answer:

Choices:
- A
- B
- C
- D

Even then my only friends were made of paper and ink. At school I had learned to read and write long before the other children. Where my school  friends saw notches of ink on incomprehensiblepages, I saw light, streets, and people. Words and the mystery of their hidden science fascinated me, and I saw in them a key with which I could unlock a boundless world, a safe haven from that home, those streets, and those troubled days in which even Icould sense that only a limited fortune awaited me. My father didn't like to see books in the house. There was something about them-apart from the letters he could not decipher-that offended him. He used to tell me that as soon as I was ten he would 15 send me off to work and that I'd better get rid of all my scatterbrained ideas if I didn't want to end up a loser, a nobody. I used to hide my books under the mattress and wait for him to go out or fall asleep so that I could read. Once he caught me reading at night20 and flew into a rage. He tore the book from my hands and flung it out of the window."If I catch you wasting electricity again, reading all this nonsense, you'll be sorry."My father was not a miser and, despite the 25 hardships we suffered, whenever he could he gave me a few coins so that I could buy myself some treats like the other children. He was convinced that I spent them on licorice sticks, sunflower seeds, or sweets, but I would keep them in a coffee tin under the bed, 30 and when I'd collected four or five reales I'd secretly rush out to buy myself a book.My favorite place in the whole city was the Sempere \& Sons bookshop on Calle Santa Ana. It smelled of old paper and dust and it was my35 sanctuary, my refuge. The bookseller would let me sit on a chair in a corner and read any book I liked to my heart's content. He hardly ever allowed me to pay for the books he placed in my hands, but when he wasn't looking I'd leave the coins I'd managed to 40 collect on the counter before I left. It was only small change-if I'd had to buy a book with that pittance, I would probably have been able to afford only a booklet of cigarette papers. When it was time for me to leave, I would do so dragging my feet, a weight on $45 \mathrm{my}$ soul. If it had been up to me, I would have stayed there forever.One Christmas Sempere gave me the best gift I have ever received. It was an old volume, read and experienced to the full.50 "Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens," I read on the cover.I was aware that Sempere knew a few authors who frequented his establishment and, judging by the care with which he handled the volume, I thought 55 perhaps this Mr. Dickens was one of them."A friend of yours?""A lifelong friend. And from now on, he's your friend too." That afternoon I took my new friend home, 60 hidden under my clothes so that my father wouldn't see it. It was a rainy winter, with days as gray as lead, and I read Great Expectations about nine times, partly because I had no other book at hand, partly because I did not think there could be a better one in 65 the whole world and I was beginning to suspect that Mr. Dickens had written it just for me. Soon I was convinced that I didn't want to do anything else in life but learn to do what Mr. Dickens had done.
Question: done") The narrator indicates that he pays Sempere
 A. less than Sempere expects him to pay for the books.
 B. nothing, because Sempere won't take his money.
 C. the money he makes selling sweets to the other children.
 D. much less for the books than they are worth.
Answer: D


Question:
We are told that it is not within the "province of woman," to discuss the subject of slavery; that it is a "political question," and we are "stepping out of our  sphere," when we take part in its discussion. It is nottrue that it is merely a political question, it is likewise a question of justice, of humanity, of morality, of religion; a question which, while it involves considerations of immense importance to the welfare and prosperity of our country, enters deeply into thehome-concerns, the every-day feelings of millions of our fellow beings. Whether the laborer shall receive the reward of his labor, or be driven daily to unrequited toil-whether he shall walk erect in the dignity of conscious manhood, or be reckonedamong the beasts which perish - whether his bones and sinews shall be his own, or another's-whether his child shall receive the protection of its natural guardian, or be ranked among the live-stock of the estate, to be disposed of as the caprice or interest ofthe master may dictate $\_\ldots$ these considerations are all involved in the question of liberty or slavery.And is a subject comprehending interests of such magnitude, merely a "political question," and one in which woman "can take no part without losingsomething of the modesty and gentleness which are her most appropriate ornaments"? May not the "ornament of a meek and quiet spirit" exist with an upright mind and enlightened intellect, and must woman necessarily be less gentle because her heart isopen to the claims of humanity, or less modest because she feels for the degradation of her enslaved sisters, and would stretch forth her hand for their rescue?By the Constitution of the United States, the  whole physical power of the North is pledged for the suppression of domestic insurrections, and should the slaves, maddened by oppression, endeavor to shake off the yoke of the taskmaster, the men of the North are bound to make common cause with the 40 tyrant, and put down, at the point of the bayonet, every effort on the part of the slave, for the attainment of his freedom. And when the father, husband, son, and brother shall have left their homes to mingle in the unholy warfare, "to become the 45 executioners of their brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands,"1 will the mother, wife, daughter, and sister feel that they have no interest in this subject? Will it be easy to convince them that it is no concern of theirs, that their homes are rendered desolate, and50 their habitations the abodes of wretchedness?Surely this consideration is of itself sufficient to arouse the slumbering energies of woman, for the overthrow of a system which thus threatens to lay in ruins the fabric of her domestic happiness; and she55 will not be deterred from the performance of her duty to herself, her family, and her country, by the cry of political question.But admitting it to be a political question, have we no interest in the welfare of our country? May we not60 permit a thought to stray beyond the narrow limits of our own family circle, and of the present hour? May we not breathe a sigh over the miseries of our countrymen, nor utter a word of remonstrance against the unjust laws that are crushing them to the 65 earth? Must we witness "the headlong rage or heedless folly," with which our nation is rushing onward to destruction, and not seek to arrest its downward course? Shall we silently behold the land which we love with all the heart-warm affection of70 children, rendered a hissing and a reproach throughout the world, by this system which is already tolling the death-bell of her decease among the nations? No: the events of the last two years have cast their dark shadows before, overclouding the bright75 prospects of the future, and shrouding the destinies of our country in more than midnight gloom, and we cannot remain inactive. Our country is as dear to us as to the proudest statesman, and the more closely our hearts cling to "our altars and our homes," the80 more fervent are our aspirations that every inhabitant of our land may be protected in his fireside enjoyments by just and equal laws; that the foot of the tyrant may no longer invade the domestic sanctuary, nor his hand tear asunder those whom85 God himself has united by the most holy ties. Let our course, then, still be onward!
Question: In the passage, Smith argues that it is possible for women to engage in which activity?
 A. Acting according to humanitarian principles while preserving their femininity
 B. Adhering to personal morality while being politically neutral
 C. Contributing to their family's financial security while meeting social expectations
 D. Resisting calls for war while still opposing slavery
Answer:

Choices:
- A
- B
- C
- D

We are told that it is not within the "province of woman," to discuss the subject of slavery; that it is a "political question," and we are "stepping out of our  sphere," when we take part in its discussion. It is nottrue that it is merely a political question, it is likewise a question of justice, of humanity, of morality, of religion; a question which, while it involves considerations of immense importance to the welfare and prosperity of our country, enters deeply into thehome-concerns, the every-day feelings of millions of our fellow beings. Whether the laborer shall receive the reward of his labor, or be driven daily to unrequited toil-whether he shall walk erect in the dignity of conscious manhood, or be reckonedamong the beasts which perish - whether his bones and sinews shall be his own, or another's-whether his child shall receive the protection of its natural guardian, or be ranked among the live-stock of the estate, to be disposed of as the caprice or interest ofthe master may dictate $\_\ldots$ these considerations are all involved in the question of liberty or slavery.And is a subject comprehending interests of such magnitude, merely a "political question," and one in which woman "can take no part without losingsomething of the modesty and gentleness which are her most appropriate ornaments"? May not the "ornament of a meek and quiet spirit" exist with an upright mind and enlightened intellect, and must woman necessarily be less gentle because her heart isopen to the claims of humanity, or less modest because she feels for the degradation of her enslaved sisters, and would stretch forth her hand for their rescue?By the Constitution of the United States, the  whole physical power of the North is pledged for the suppression of domestic insurrections, and should the slaves, maddened by oppression, endeavor to shake off the yoke of the taskmaster, the men of the North are bound to make common cause with the 40 tyrant, and put down, at the point of the bayonet, every effort on the part of the slave, for the attainment of his freedom. And when the father, husband, son, and brother shall have left their homes to mingle in the unholy warfare, "to become the 45 executioners of their brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands,"1 will the mother, wife, daughter, and sister feel that they have no interest in this subject? Will it be easy to convince them that it is no concern of theirs, that their homes are rendered desolate, and50 their habitations the abodes of wretchedness?Surely this consideration is of itself sufficient to arouse the slumbering energies of woman, for the overthrow of a system which thus threatens to lay in ruins the fabric of her domestic happiness; and she55 will not be deterred from the performance of her duty to herself, her family, and her country, by the cry of political question.But admitting it to be a political question, have we no interest in the welfare of our country? May we not60 permit a thought to stray beyond the narrow limits of our own family circle, and of the present hour? May we not breathe a sigh over the miseries of our countrymen, nor utter a word of remonstrance against the unjust laws that are crushing them to the 65 earth? Must we witness "the headlong rage or heedless folly," with which our nation is rushing onward to destruction, and not seek to arrest its downward course? Shall we silently behold the land which we love with all the heart-warm affection of70 children, rendered a hissing and a reproach throughout the world, by this system which is already tolling the death-bell of her decease among the nations? No: the events of the last two years have cast their dark shadows before, overclouding the bright75 prospects of the future, and shrouding the destinies of our country in more than midnight gloom, and we cannot remain inactive. Our country is as dear to us as to the proudest statesman, and the more closely our hearts cling to "our altars and our homes," the80 more fervent are our aspirations that every inhabitant of our land may be protected in his fireside enjoyments by just and equal laws; that the foot of the tyrant may no longer invade the domestic sanctuary, nor his hand tear asunder those whom85 God himself has united by the most holy ties. Let our course, then, still be onward!
Question: In the passage, Smith argues that it is possible for women to engage in which activity?
 A. Acting according to humanitarian principles while preserving their femininity
 B. Adhering to personal morality while being politically neutral
 C. Contributing to their family's financial security while meeting social expectations
 D. Resisting calls for war while still opposing slavery
Answer: A


Question:
Many millennia before the invention of herbicides, farmers simply plowed their fields to control weeds. Even today, plowing can constitute a  valuable part of an integrated weed-management 5 program. Although plowing kills standing weeds, farmers have long known that it often leads to the emergence of new weed seedlings in a few weeks.Ecologists have shown that a farmer's field can have 50,000 or more weed seeds per square meter 10 buried beneath the soil surface. Plant physiologists have shown that seeds buried more than about one centimeter below the soil surface do not receive enough light to germinate. Do the blades of a plow, which can reach more than a foot beneath the soil15 surface, bring some of these buried seeds to the surface where their germination is induced by exposure to sunlight?Two ecologists, Jonathan Sauer and Gwendolyn Struik, began to study this question in the 1960s. In a 20 relatively simple experiment, they went to ten different habitats in Wisconsin during the night and collected pairs of soil samples. They stirred up the soil in one sample of each pair in the light and stirred up the other sample of each pair in the dark. They then25 exposed all ten pairs to natural sunlight in a greenhouse. For nine of the ten pairs of soil samples, weed growth was greater in the samples stirred up in light. They concluded that soil disturbance gives weed seeds a "light break," and this stimulates their 30 germination.More recently, Karl Hartmann of Erlangen University in Germany reasoned that when farmers plowed their fields during the day, the buried weed seeds are briefly exposed to sunlight as the soil is35 turned over, and that this stimulates their germination. Although the light exposures from plowing may be less than one millisecond, that can be enough to induce seed germination. Thus the germination of weed seeds would be minimized if40 farmers simply plowed their fields during the night, when the photon fluence rate [the rate at which photons hit the surface] is below $10^{15}$ photons per square meter per second. Although even under these conditions hundreds of millions of photons strike 45 each square millimeter of ground each second, this illumination is below the threshold needed to stimulate the germination of most seeds.Hartmann says that he was very skeptical when he first came up with this idea because he assumed 50 that such a simple method of weed control as plowing at nighttime must be ineffective or it would have been discovered long ago. But the subsequent experiments, first presented at a 1989 scientific meeting in Freiburg, Germany, clearly demonstrated 55 that the method can be effective.Hartmann tested his idea by plowing two agricultural strips near Altershausen, Germany. The farmer Karl Seydel cultivated one strip, repeated threefold, at around midday and the other strip60 at night. No crops were planted in these pilot experiments, to avoid possible competition with the emerging weeds. The results were dramatic. More than 80 percent of the surface of the field plowed in daylight was covered by weeds, whereas 65 only about 2 percent of the field plowed at night was covered by weeds.This method of weed control is currently being used by several farmers in Germany. Because many of the same weed species that invade farmers' fields70 in Germany also invade fields elsewhere in the world, this method should be successful elsewhere. In fact, recent studies at universities in Nebraska, Oregon, Minnesota, Denmark, Sweden, and Argentina support this idea. Number of Emerged Seedlings in Soil Samples One Month after Soil Was Disturbed\begin{center}\begin{tabular}{|c|l|c|c|}\hline\multirow{2}{*}{Sample} & \multicolumn{2}{|c|}{Source of soil} & \multicolumn{2}{|c|}{$\begin{array}{c}\text { Number of emerged } \\\text { seedlings in soil } \\\text { disturbed in }\end{array}$} \\\cline { 3 - 4 }&  & light & darkness &  \\\hlineA & deciduous woods & 4 & 0 &  \\\hlineB & deciduous woods & 2 & 1 &  \\\hlineC & deciduous woods & 6 & 2 &  \\\hlineD & conifer plantation & 8 & 3 &  \\\hlineE & conifer plantation & 2 & 1 &  \\\hlineF & tall-grass prairie &  & 1 &  \\\hlineG & old pasture & 0 & 2 &  \\\hlineH & old pasture & 2 & 1 &  \\\hlineI & muck field & 14 & 2 &  \\\hlineJ & muck field & 5 & 3 &  \\\hline\end{tabular}\end{center}Adapted from Jonathan Sauer and Gwendolyn Struik, "A Possible Ecological Relation between Soil Disturbance, Light-Flash, and Seed Germination." @1964 by Jonathan Sauer and Gwendolyn Struik.
Question: According to the table, in which soil sample disturbed in darkness did the fewest number of seedlings emerge?
 A. Sample $A$
 B. Sample B
 C. Sample C
 D. Sample D
Answer:

Choices:
- A
- B
- C
- D

Many millennia before the invention of herbicides, farmers simply plowed their fields to control weeds. Even today, plowing can constitute a  valuable part of an integrated weed-management 5 program. Although plowing kills standing weeds, farmers have long known that it often leads to the emergence of new weed seedlings in a few weeks.Ecologists have shown that a farmer's field can have 50,000 or more weed seeds per square meter 10 buried beneath the soil surface. Plant physiologists have shown that seeds buried more than about one centimeter below the soil surface do not receive enough light to germinate. Do the blades of a plow, which can reach more than a foot beneath the soil15 surface, bring some of these buried seeds to the surface where their germination is induced by exposure to sunlight?Two ecologists, Jonathan Sauer and Gwendolyn Struik, began to study this question in the 1960s. In a 20 relatively simple experiment, they went to ten different habitats in Wisconsin during the night and collected pairs of soil samples. They stirred up the soil in one sample of each pair in the light and stirred up the other sample of each pair in the dark. They then25 exposed all ten pairs to natural sunlight in a greenhouse. For nine of the ten pairs of soil samples, weed growth was greater in the samples stirred up in light. They concluded that soil disturbance gives weed seeds a "light break," and this stimulates their 30 germination.More recently, Karl Hartmann of Erlangen University in Germany reasoned that when farmers plowed their fields during the day, the buried weed seeds are briefly exposed to sunlight as the soil is35 turned over, and that this stimulates their germination. Although the light exposures from plowing may be less than one millisecond, that can be enough to induce seed germination. Thus the germination of weed seeds would be minimized if40 farmers simply plowed their fields during the night, when the photon fluence rate [the rate at which photons hit the surface] is below $10^{15}$ photons per square meter per second. Although even under these conditions hundreds of millions of photons strike 45 each square millimeter of ground each second, this illumination is below the threshold needed to stimulate the germination of most seeds.Hartmann says that he was very skeptical when he first came up with this idea because he assumed 50 that such a simple method of weed control as plowing at nighttime must be ineffective or it would have been discovered long ago. But the subsequent experiments, first presented at a 1989 scientific meeting in Freiburg, Germany, clearly demonstrated 55 that the method can be effective.Hartmann tested his idea by plowing two agricultural strips near Altershausen, Germany. The farmer Karl Seydel cultivated one strip, repeated threefold, at around midday and the other strip60 at night. No crops were planted in these pilot experiments, to avoid possible competition with the emerging weeds. The results were dramatic. More than 80 percent of the surface of the field plowed in daylight was covered by weeds, whereas 65 only about 2 percent of the field plowed at night was covered by weeds.This method of weed control is currently being used by several farmers in Germany. Because many of the same weed species that invade farmers' fields70 in Germany also invade fields elsewhere in the world, this method should be successful elsewhere. In fact, recent studies at universities in Nebraska, Oregon, Minnesota, Denmark, Sweden, and Argentina support this idea. Number of Emerged Seedlings in Soil Samples One Month after Soil Was Disturbed\begin{center}\begin{tabular}{|c|l|c|c|}\hline\multirow{2}{*}{Sample} & \multicolumn{2}{|c|}{Source of soil} & \multicolumn{2}{|c|}{$\begin{array}{c}\text { Number of emerged } \\\text { seedlings in soil } \\\text { disturbed in }\end{array}$} \\\cline { 3 - 4 }&  & light & darkness &  \\\hlineA & deciduous woods & 4 & 0 &  \\\hlineB & deciduous woods & 2 & 1 &  \\\hlineC & deciduous woods & 6 & 2 &  \\\hlineD & conifer plantation & 8 & 3 &  \\\hlineE & conifer plantation & 2 & 1 &  \\\hlineF & tall-grass prairie &  & 1 &  \\\hlineG & old pasture & 0 & 2 &  \\\hlineH & old pasture & 2 & 1 &  \\\hlineI & muck field & 14 & 2 &  \\\hlineJ & muck field & 5 & 3 &  \\\hline\end{tabular}\end{center}Adapted from Jonathan Sauer and Gwendolyn Struik, "A Possible Ecological Relation between Soil Disturbance, Light-Flash, and Seed Germination." @1964 by Jonathan Sauer and Gwendolyn Struik.
Question: According to the table, in which soil sample disturbed in darkness did the fewest number of seedlings emerge?
 A. Sample $A$
 B. Sample B
 C. Sample C
 D. Sample D
Answer: A


Question:
In 2000, a neuroscientist at University College London named Eleanor Maguire wanted to find out what effect, if any, all that driving around the  labyrinthine streets of London might have oncabbies' brains. When she brought sixteen taxi drivers into her lab and examined their brains in an MRI scanner, she found one surprising and important difference. The right posterior hippocampus, a part of the brain known to beinvolved in spatial navigation, was 7 percent larger than normal in the cabbies-a small but very significant difference. Maguire concluded that all of that way-finding around London had physically altered the gross structure of their brains. The moreyears a cabbie had been on the road, the more pronounced the effect.The brain is a mutable organ, capable-within limits-of reorganizing itself and readapting to new kinds of sensory input, a phenomenon known asneuroplasticity. It had long been thought that the adult brain was incapable of spawning new neurons-that while learning caused synapses to rearrange themselves and new links between brain cells to form, the brain's basic anatomical structurewas more or less static. Maguire's study suggested the old inherited wisdom was simply not true.After her groundbreaking study of London cabbies, Maguire decided to turn her attention to mental athletes. She teamed up with ElizabethValentine and John Wilding, authors of the academic monograph Superior Memory, to study ten individuals who had finished near the top of the World Memory Championship. They wanted to find out if the memorizers' brains were-like the Londoncabbies'-structurally different from the rest of ours, or if they were somehow just making better use of memory abilities that we all possess.The researchers put both the mental athletes and a group of matched control subjects into MRI scanners  and asked them to memorize three-digit numbers, black-and-white photographs of people's faces, and magnified images of snowflakes, while their brains were being scanned. Maguire and her team thought it was possible that they might discover anatomical 45 differences in the brains of the memory champs, evidence that their brains had somehow reorganized themselves in the process of doing all that intensive remembering. But when the researchers reviewed the imaging data, not a single significant structural50 difference turned up. The brains of the mental athletes appeared to be indistinguishable from those of the control subjects. What's more, on every single test of general cognitive ability, the mental athletes' scores came back well within the normal range. The 55 memory champs weren't smarter, and they didn't have special brains.But there was one telling difference between the brains of the mental athletes and the control subjects: When the researchers looked at which parts of the 60 brain were lighting up when the mental athletes were memorizing, they found that they were activating entirely different circuitry. According to the functional MRIs [fMRIs], regions of the brain that were less active in the control subjects seemed to be 65 working in overdrive for the mental athletes.Surprisingly, when the mental athletes were learning new information, they were engaging several regions of the brain known to be involved in two specific tasks: visual memory and spatial70 navigation, including the same right posterior hippocampal region that the London cabbies had enlarged with all their daily way-finding. At first glance, this wouldn't seem to make any sense. Why would mental athletes be conjuring images in 75 their mind's eye when they were trying to learn three-digit numbers? Why should they be navigating like London cabbies when they're supposed to be remembering the shapes of snowflakes?Maguire and her team asked the mental athletes 80 to describe exactly what was going through their minds as they memorized. The mental athletes said they were consciously converting the information they were being asked to memorize into images, and distributing those images along familiar spatial85 journeys. They weren't doing this automatically, or because it was an inborn talent they'd nurtured since childhood. Rather, the unexpected patterns of neural activity that Maguire's fMRIs turned up were the result of training and practice
Question: According to the passage, when compared to mental athletes, the individuals in the control group in Maguire's second study
 A. showed less brain activity overall.
 B. demonstrated a wider range of cognitive ability.
 C. exhibited different patterns of brain activity.
 D. displayed noticeably smaller hippocampal regions.
Answer:

Choices:
- A
- B
- C
- D

In 2000, a neuroscientist at University College London named Eleanor Maguire wanted to find out what effect, if any, all that driving around the  labyrinthine streets of London might have oncabbies' brains. When she brought sixteen taxi drivers into her lab and examined their brains in an MRI scanner, she found one surprising and important difference. The right posterior hippocampus, a part of the brain known to beinvolved in spatial navigation, was 7 percent larger than normal in the cabbies-a small but very significant difference. Maguire concluded that all of that way-finding around London had physically altered the gross structure of their brains. The moreyears a cabbie had been on the road, the more pronounced the effect.The brain is a mutable organ, capable-within limits-of reorganizing itself and readapting to new kinds of sensory input, a phenomenon known asneuroplasticity. It had long been thought that the adult brain was incapable of spawning new neurons-that while learning caused synapses to rearrange themselves and new links between brain cells to form, the brain's basic anatomical structurewas more or less static. Maguire's study suggested the old inherited wisdom was simply not true.After her groundbreaking study of London cabbies, Maguire decided to turn her attention to mental athletes. She teamed up with ElizabethValentine and John Wilding, authors of the academic monograph Superior Memory, to study ten individuals who had finished near the top of the World Memory Championship. They wanted to find out if the memorizers' brains were-like the Londoncabbies'-structurally different from the rest of ours, or if they were somehow just making better use of memory abilities that we all possess.The researchers put both the mental athletes and a group of matched control subjects into MRI scanners  and asked them to memorize three-digit numbers, black-and-white photographs of people's faces, and magnified images of snowflakes, while their brains were being scanned. Maguire and her team thought it was possible that they might discover anatomical 45 differences in the brains of the memory champs, evidence that their brains had somehow reorganized themselves in the process of doing all that intensive remembering. But when the researchers reviewed the imaging data, not a single significant structural50 difference turned up. The brains of the mental athletes appeared to be indistinguishable from those of the control subjects. What's more, on every single test of general cognitive ability, the mental athletes' scores came back well within the normal range. The 55 memory champs weren't smarter, and they didn't have special brains.But there was one telling difference between the brains of the mental athletes and the control subjects: When the researchers looked at which parts of the 60 brain were lighting up when the mental athletes were memorizing, they found that they were activating entirely different circuitry. According to the functional MRIs [fMRIs], regions of the brain that were less active in the control subjects seemed to be 65 working in overdrive for the mental athletes.Surprisingly, when the mental athletes were learning new information, they were engaging several regions of the brain known to be involved in two specific tasks: visual memory and spatial70 navigation, including the same right posterior hippocampal region that the London cabbies had enlarged with all their daily way-finding. At first glance, this wouldn't seem to make any sense. Why would mental athletes be conjuring images in 75 their mind's eye when they were trying to learn three-digit numbers? Why should they be navigating like London cabbies when they're supposed to be remembering the shapes of snowflakes?Maguire and her team asked the mental athletes 80 to describe exactly what was going through their minds as they memorized. The mental athletes said they were consciously converting the information they were being asked to memorize into images, and distributing those images along familiar spatial85 journeys. They weren't doing this automatically, or because it was an inborn talent they'd nurtured since childhood. Rather, the unexpected patterns of neural activity that Maguire's fMRIs turned up were the result of training and practice
Question: According to the passage, when compared to mental athletes, the individuals in the control group in Maguire's second study
 A. showed less brain activity overall.
 B. demonstrated a wider range of cognitive ability.
 C. exhibited different patterns of brain activity.
 D. displayed noticeably smaller hippocampal regions.
Answer: C


Question:
A pair of recent studies suggests that although.industrialized nations may have benefitted from larger.cities, the same is not true for the rapidly urbanizing areas of.the developing world. In these parts of the globe, there really.might be such a thing as too much urbanization, too.quickly..The studies, by Susanne A. Frick and Andrés Rodríguez-.Pose of the London School of Economics, take a close look.at the actual connection between city size and nationwide.economic performance. Their initial study, from last year,.examines the relationship between economic development,.as measured by GDP per capita, and average metropolitan-.area size in 114 countries across the world between 1960.and 2010. To ensure robustness, it controls for variables.including national population size, physical land area,.education levels, economic openness, and other factors..The size of cities or metro areas across the world has.exploded over the past half-century, with cities in the.developing world growing much faster and much larger.than those in more developed nations. Between 1960 and 2010, the median city in high-income countries grew.modestly from 500,000 to 650,000 people; but the median.city in the developing world nearly quadrupled, expanding.from 220,000 to 845,000 people. In 1960, 12 of the top 20.countries with the largest average city size were high-.income countries; by 2010, 14 of the top 20 were in the.developing world..Urbanization has historically been thought of as a.necessary feature of economic development and growth, but.this study finds the connection is not so simple. While.advanced nations benefit from having larger cities,.developing nations do not. Advanced nations experience a 0.7 percent increase in economic growth for every.additional 100,000 in average population among its large.cities over a five-year period. But for developing nations, the.addition of 100,000 people in large cities is associated with a 2.3 percent decrease in economic growth over a five-year.period..In their latest study, the researchers found that.developing nations tend to get a bigger bang for their buck.from smaller and medium-size cities. These countries see.the most economic benefit from having a larger proportion.of their urban population living in cities of 500,000 people.or less. Bigger cities tend to have a more positive economic.impact in larger countries. Having a metro with more than 10 million inhabitants produces a nationwide economic.benefit only if the total urban population is 28.5 million.or more, according to the study. This makes sense:.Bigger, more developed countries are more likely to play.host to knowledge-based industries that require urban.agglomeration economies..There are several reasons why megacities^1 often fail to.spur significant growth in the rapidly urbanizing world..For one, the lion’s share of places that are urbanizing.most rapidly today are in the poorest and least-.developed parts of the world, whereas the places that.urbanized a century or so ago were in the richest and.most developed. This history has created a false.expectation that urbanization is always associated with.prosperity..Additionally, globalization has severed the historical.connection between cities, local agriculture, and local.industry that powered the more balanced urban.economic development of the past. In today’s globally.interconnected economy, the raw materials that flowed.from the surrounding countryside to the city can all be.inexpensively imported from other parts of the world..The result is that the connection between large cities and.growth has now become much more tenuous, producing.a troubling new pattern of “urbanization without.growth.”.The researchers used multiple variables to calculate a weighted average.city size for each country studied and reported the median of those.averages..(^1) Typically defined as cities with populations of over ten million people
Question: Which claim from the passage is best supported bythe graph?
 A. The median population of cities in developing countries grew more sharply from 1960 to 2010 than did that of cities in high-income countries.
 B. In 1960, more than half of the countries with the largest average city size were high-income countries.
 C. The addition of 100,000 people in a large city causes an increase in economic growth in high-income countries but causes a decrease in economic growth in developing countries.
 D. Developing countries benefit from having more of the urban population living in smaller and medium-sized cities.
Answer:

Choices:
- A
- B
- C
- D

A pair of recent studies suggests that although.industrialized nations may have benefitted from larger.cities, the same is not true for the rapidly urbanizing areas of.the developing world. In these parts of the globe, there really.might be such a thing as too much urbanization, too.quickly..The studies, by Susanne A. Frick and Andrés Rodríguez-.Pose of the London School of Economics, take a close look.at the actual connection between city size and nationwide.economic performance. Their initial study, from last year,.examines the relationship between economic development,.as measured by GDP per capita, and average metropolitan-.area size in 114 countries across the world between 1960.and 2010. To ensure robustness, it controls for variables.including national population size, physical land area,.education levels, economic openness, and other factors..The size of cities or metro areas across the world has.exploded over the past half-century, with cities in the.developing world growing much faster and much larger.than those in more developed nations. Between 1960 and 2010, the median city in high-income countries grew.modestly from 500,000 to 650,000 people; but the median.city in the developing world nearly quadrupled, expanding.from 220,000 to 845,000 people. In 1960, 12 of the top 20.countries with the largest average city size were high-.income countries; by 2010, 14 of the top 20 were in the.developing world..Urbanization has historically been thought of as a.necessary feature of economic development and growth, but.this study finds the connection is not so simple. While.advanced nations benefit from having larger cities,.developing nations do not. Advanced nations experience a 0.7 percent increase in economic growth for every.additional 100,000 in average population among its large.cities over a five-year period. But for developing nations, the.addition of 100,000 people in large cities is associated with a 2.3 percent decrease in economic growth over a five-year.period..In their latest study, the researchers found that.developing nations tend to get a bigger bang for their buck.from smaller and medium-size cities. These countries see.the most economic benefit from having a larger proportion.of their urban population living in cities of 500,000 people.or less. Bigger cities tend to have a more positive economic.impact in larger countries. Having a metro with more than 10 million inhabitants produces a nationwide economic.benefit only if the total urban population is 28.5 million.or more, according to the study. This makes sense:.Bigger, more developed countries are more likely to play.host to knowledge-based industries that require urban.agglomeration economies..There are several reasons why megacities^1 often fail to.spur significant growth in the rapidly urbanizing world..For one, the lion’s share of places that are urbanizing.most rapidly today are in the poorest and least-.developed parts of the world, whereas the places that.urbanized a century or so ago were in the richest and.most developed. This history has created a false.expectation that urbanization is always associated with.prosperity..Additionally, globalization has severed the historical.connection between cities, local agriculture, and local.industry that powered the more balanced urban.economic development of the past. In today’s globally.interconnected economy, the raw materials that flowed.from the surrounding countryside to the city can all be.inexpensively imported from other parts of the world..The result is that the connection between large cities and.growth has now become much more tenuous, producing.a troubling new pattern of “urbanization without.growth.”.The researchers used multiple variables to calculate a weighted average.city size for each country studied and reported the median of those.averages..(^1) Typically defined as cities with populations of over ten million people
Question: Which claim from the passage is best supported bythe graph?
 A. The median population of cities in developing countries grew more sharply from 1960 to 2010 than did that of cities in high-income countries.
 B. In 1960, more than half of the countries with the largest average city size were high-income countries.
 C. The addition of 100,000 people in a large city causes an increase in economic growth in high-income countries but causes a decrease in economic growth in developing countries.
 D. Developing countries benefit from having more of the urban population living in smaller and medium-sized cities.
Answer: A


Question:
Unlike the gold which needed nothing, and must be worshipped in close-locked solitude - which was hidden away from the daylight, was deaf to the song  of birds, and started to no human tones-Eppie was a 5 creature of endless claims and ever-growing desires, seeking and loving sunshine, and living sounds, and living movements; making trial of everything, with trust in new joy, and stirring the human kindness in all eyes that looked on her. The gold had kept his10 thoughts in an ever-repeated circle, leading to nothing beyond itself; but Eppie was an object compacted of changes and hopes that forced his thoughts onward, and carried them far away from their old eager pacing towards the same blank15 limit-carried them away to the new things that would come with the coming years, when Eppie would have learned to understand how her father Silas cared for her; and made him look for images of that time in the ties and charities that bound together 20 the families of his neighbors. The gold had asked that he should sit weaving longer and longer, deafened and blinded more and more to all things except the monotony of his loom and the repetition of his web; but Eppie called him away from his weaving, and25 made him think all its pauses a holiday, reawakening his senses with her fresh life, even to the old winter-flies that came crawling forth in the early spring sunshine, and warming him into joy because she had joy.30 And when the sunshine grew strong and lasting, so that the buttercups were thick in the meadows, Silas might be seen in the sunny mid-day, or in the late afternoon when the shadows were lengthening under the hedgerows, strolling out with uncovered35 head to carry Eppie beyond the Stone-pits to where the flowers grew, till they reached some favorite bank where he could sit down, while Eppie toddled to pluck the flowers, and make remarks to the winged things that murmured happily above the bright40 petals, calling "Dad-dad's" attention continually by bringing him the flowers. Then she would turn her ear to some sudden bird-note, and Silas learned to please her by making signs of hushed stillness, that they might listen for the note to come again: so that45 when it came, she set up her small back and laughed with gurgling triumph. Sitting on the banks in this way, Silas began to look for the once familiar herbs again; and as the leaves, with their unchanged outline and markings, lay on his palm, there was a sense of 50 crowding remembrances from which he turned away timidly, taking refuge in Eppie's little world, that lay lightly on his enfeebled spirit. As the child's mind was growing into knowledge, his mind was growing into memory: as her lifeunfolded, his soul, long stupefied in a cold narrow prison, was unfolding too, and trembling gradually into full consciousness.It was an influence which must gather force with every new year: the tones that stirred Silas' heart60 grew articulate, and called for more distinct answers; shapes and sounds grew clearer for Eppie's eyes and ears, and there was more that "Dad-dad" was imperatively required to notice and account for. Also, by the time Eppie was three years old, she65 developed a fine capacity for mischief, and for devising ingenious ways of being troublesome, which found much exercise, not only for Silas' patience, but for his watchfulness and penetration. Sorely was poor Silas puzzled on such occasions by the incompatible 70 demands of love.
Question: As compared with Silas's gold, Eppie is portrayed as having more
 A. vitality.
 B. durability.
 C. protection.
 D. self-sufficiency.
Answer:

Choices:
- A
- B
- C
- D

Unlike the gold which needed nothing, and must be worshipped in close-locked solitude - which was hidden away from the daylight, was deaf to the song  of birds, and started to no human tones-Eppie was a 5 creature of endless claims and ever-growing desires, seeking and loving sunshine, and living sounds, and living movements; making trial of everything, with trust in new joy, and stirring the human kindness in all eyes that looked on her. The gold had kept his10 thoughts in an ever-repeated circle, leading to nothing beyond itself; but Eppie was an object compacted of changes and hopes that forced his thoughts onward, and carried them far away from their old eager pacing towards the same blank15 limit-carried them away to the new things that would come with the coming years, when Eppie would have learned to understand how her father Silas cared for her; and made him look for images of that time in the ties and charities that bound together 20 the families of his neighbors. The gold had asked that he should sit weaving longer and longer, deafened and blinded more and more to all things except the monotony of his loom and the repetition of his web; but Eppie called him away from his weaving, and25 made him think all its pauses a holiday, reawakening his senses with her fresh life, even to the old winter-flies that came crawling forth in the early spring sunshine, and warming him into joy because she had joy.30 And when the sunshine grew strong and lasting, so that the buttercups were thick in the meadows, Silas might be seen in the sunny mid-day, or in the late afternoon when the shadows were lengthening under the hedgerows, strolling out with uncovered35 head to carry Eppie beyond the Stone-pits to where the flowers grew, till they reached some favorite bank where he could sit down, while Eppie toddled to pluck the flowers, and make remarks to the winged things that murmured happily above the bright40 petals, calling "Dad-dad's" attention continually by bringing him the flowers. Then she would turn her ear to some sudden bird-note, and Silas learned to please her by making signs of hushed stillness, that they might listen for the note to come again: so that45 when it came, she set up her small back and laughed with gurgling triumph. Sitting on the banks in this way, Silas began to look for the once familiar herbs again; and as the leaves, with their unchanged outline and markings, lay on his palm, there was a sense of 50 crowding remembrances from which he turned away timidly, taking refuge in Eppie's little world, that lay lightly on his enfeebled spirit. As the child's mind was growing into knowledge, his mind was growing into memory: as her lifeunfolded, his soul, long stupefied in a cold narrow prison, was unfolding too, and trembling gradually into full consciousness.It was an influence which must gather force with every new year: the tones that stirred Silas' heart60 grew articulate, and called for more distinct answers; shapes and sounds grew clearer for Eppie's eyes and ears, and there was more that "Dad-dad" was imperatively required to notice and account for. Also, by the time Eppie was three years old, she65 developed a fine capacity for mischief, and for devising ingenious ways of being troublesome, which found much exercise, not only for Silas' patience, but for his watchfulness and penetration. Sorely was poor Silas puzzled on such occasions by the incompatible 70 demands of love.
Question: As compared with Silas's gold, Eppie is portrayed as having more
 A. vitality.
 B. durability.
 C. protection.
 D. self-sufficiency.
Answer: A


Question:
\section{Passage 1}I have shown how democracy destroys or modifies the different inequalities which originate in society; but is this all? or does it not ultimately affect  that great inequality of man and woman which hasseemed, up to the present day, to be eternally based in human nature? I believe that the social changes which bring nearer to the same level the father and son, the master and servant, and superiors and inferiors generally speaking, will raise woman andmake her more and more the equal of man. But here, more than ever, I feel the necessity of making myself clearly understood; for there is no subject on which the coarse and lawless fancies of our age have taken a freer range.There are people in Europe who, confounding together the different characteristics of the sexes, would make of man and woman beings not only equal but alike. They would give to both the same functions, impose on both the same duties, and grant20 to both the same rights; they would mix them in all things-their occupations, their pleasures, their business. It may readily be conceived, that by thus attempting to make one sex equal to the other, both are degraded; and from so preposterous a medley of 25 the works of nature nothing could ever result but weak men and disorderly women.It is not thus that the Americans understand that species of democratic equality which may be established between the sexes. They admit, that as 30 nature has appointed such wide differences between the physical and moral constitution of man and woman, her manifest design was to give a distinct employment to their various faculties; and they hold that improvement does not consist in making beings 35 so dissimilar do pretty nearly the same things, but in getting each of them to fulfill their respective tasks in the best possible manner. The Americans have applied to the sexes the great principle of political economy which governs the manufactures of our age, 40 by carefully dividing the duties of man from those of woman, in order that the great work of society may be the better carried on.\section{Passage 2}As society was constituted until the last few generations, inequality was its very basis; association 45 grounded on equal rights scarcely existed; to be equals was to be enemies; two persons could hardly coöperate in anything, or meet in any amicable relation, without the law's appointing that one of them should be the superior of the other.50 Mankind have outgrown this state, and all things now tend to substitute, as the general principle of human relations, a just equality, instead of the dominion of the strongest. But of all relations, that between men and women, being the nearest and55 most intimate, and connected with the greatest number of strong emotions, was sure to be the last to throw off the old rule, and receive the new; for, in proportion to the strength of a feeling is the tenacity with which it clings to the forms and60 circumstances with which it has even accidentally become associated. ...... The proper sphere for all human beings is the largest and highest which they are able to attain to. What this is, cannot be ascertained without complete 65 liberty of choice.... Let every occupation be open to all, without favor or discouragement to any, and employments will fall into the hands of those men or women who are found by experience to be most capable of worthily exercising them. There need be70 no fear that women will take out of the hands of men any occupation which men perform better than they. Each individual will prove his or her capacities, in the only way in which capacities can be proved,-by trial; and the world will have the benefit of the best75 faculties of all its inhabitants. But to interfere beforehand by an arbitrary limit, and declare that whatever be the genius, talent, energy, or force of mind, of an individual of a certain sex or class, those faculties shall not be exerted, or shall be exerted only80 in some few of the many modes in which others are permitted to use theirs, is not only an injustice to the individual, and a detriment to society, which loses what it can ill spare, but is also the most effectual way of providing that, in the sex or class so fettered, the85 qualities which are not permitted to be exercised shall not exist.
Question: Both authors would most likely agree that the changes in gender roles that they describe would be
 A. part of a broad social shift toward greater equality.
 B. unlikely to provide benefits that outweigh their costs.
 C. inevitable given the economic advantages of gender equality.
 D. at odds with the principles of American democracy.
Answer:

Choices:
- A
- B
- C
- D

\section{Passage 1}I have shown how democracy destroys or modifies the different inequalities which originate in society; but is this all? or does it not ultimately affect  that great inequality of man and woman which hasseemed, up to the present day, to be eternally based in human nature? I believe that the social changes which bring nearer to the same level the father and son, the master and servant, and superiors and inferiors generally speaking, will raise woman andmake her more and more the equal of man. But here, more than ever, I feel the necessity of making myself clearly understood; for there is no subject on which the coarse and lawless fancies of our age have taken a freer range.There are people in Europe who, confounding together the different characteristics of the sexes, would make of man and woman beings not only equal but alike. They would give to both the same functions, impose on both the same duties, and grant20 to both the same rights; they would mix them in all things-their occupations, their pleasures, their business. It may readily be conceived, that by thus attempting to make one sex equal to the other, both are degraded; and from so preposterous a medley of 25 the works of nature nothing could ever result but weak men and disorderly women.It is not thus that the Americans understand that species of democratic equality which may be established between the sexes. They admit, that as 30 nature has appointed such wide differences between the physical and moral constitution of man and woman, her manifest design was to give a distinct employment to their various faculties; and they hold that improvement does not consist in making beings 35 so dissimilar do pretty nearly the same things, but in getting each of them to fulfill their respective tasks in the best possible manner. The Americans have applied to the sexes the great principle of political economy which governs the manufactures of our age, 40 by carefully dividing the duties of man from those of woman, in order that the great work of society may be the better carried on.\section{Passage 2}As society was constituted until the last few generations, inequality was its very basis; association 45 grounded on equal rights scarcely existed; to be equals was to be enemies; two persons could hardly coöperate in anything, or meet in any amicable relation, without the law's appointing that one of them should be the superior of the other.50 Mankind have outgrown this state, and all things now tend to substitute, as the general principle of human relations, a just equality, instead of the dominion of the strongest. But of all relations, that between men and women, being the nearest and55 most intimate, and connected with the greatest number of strong emotions, was sure to be the last to throw off the old rule, and receive the new; for, in proportion to the strength of a feeling is the tenacity with which it clings to the forms and60 circumstances with which it has even accidentally become associated. ...... The proper sphere for all human beings is the largest and highest which they are able to attain to. What this is, cannot be ascertained without complete 65 liberty of choice.... Let every occupation be open to all, without favor or discouragement to any, and employments will fall into the hands of those men or women who are found by experience to be most capable of worthily exercising them. There need be70 no fear that women will take out of the hands of men any occupation which men perform better than they. Each individual will prove his or her capacities, in the only way in which capacities can be proved,-by trial; and the world will have the benefit of the best75 faculties of all its inhabitants. But to interfere beforehand by an arbitrary limit, and declare that whatever be the genius, talent, energy, or force of mind, of an individual of a certain sex or class, those faculties shall not be exerted, or shall be exerted only80 in some few of the many modes in which others are permitted to use theirs, is not only an injustice to the individual, and a detriment to society, which loses what it can ill spare, but is also the most effectual way of providing that, in the sex or class so fettered, the85 qualities which are not permitted to be exercised shall not exist.
Question: Both authors would most likely agree that the changes in gender roles that they describe would be
 A. part of a broad social shift toward greater equality.
 B. unlikely to provide benefits that outweigh their costs.
 C. inevitable given the economic advantages of gender equality.
 D. at odds with the principles of American democracy.
Answer: A


Question:
Large competitors are often viewed as a major.threat for startups and small companies; big.companies have more financial resources and greater.scale, market power and brand awareness than.smaller ones. However, our research finds that a.smaller brand can actually benefit if consumers can.see the competitive threat it faces from a larger.organization..When a U.S.-based ice cream chain with about 1,400 stores moved within 50 steps of a J.P. Licks ice.cream store in Newton, Massachusetts, some people.expected that J.P. Licks, a small, locally owned.company, would be beaten out of the Newton market..But consumers rallied around J.P. Licks, and the.national chain later closed its nearby location. When.the owner of the Los Angeles-based coffee store chain.The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf could not stop a large.coffee shop chain from moving in next door, he was.surprised to see his sales shoot up—so much so that.he started proactively colocating new stores next to.large chain ones..These examples are not anomalies. In six lab and.field studies, we explored the effects of having a large,.dominant competitor and found that highlighting a.large competitor’s size and close proximity can help.smaller brands, instead of harming them. Compared.to when they are in competition with brands that are.similar to them in size or when consumers view them.outside of a competitive context, small brands see.consumer support go up when they are faced with a.competitive threat from large brands. This support.translates into higher purchase intention, more.purchases and more favorable online reviews..As part of our research, we conducted a field study.at an independent bookstore in Cambridge,.Massachusetts. Upon entering the bookstore, 163.prospective shoppers were exposed to one of three.versions of an in-store ad, emphasizing either the.store’s large competitors, small competitors or no.competition. Shoppers who read the “large.competitors” version were told that the store’s main.competitors are large corporations that have the.ability to put small businesses such as this bookstore.out of business. The “small competitors” version.indicated the store’s main competitors are other.locally owned small bookstores in Cambridge. In the.“no competition” version, participants were given no.information about the competitive environment..Shoppers were then given a $5 coupon, coded with.the in-store ad version they read. Analyzing.shoppers’ sales receipts and the number of redeemed.coupons, we found that shoppers were significantly.more likely to make a purchase after reading the.“large competitors” version of the in-store ad,.compared to the “small competitors” version or the.“no competition” version. They also purchased more.items and spent more money at the store, compared.to shoppers reading the “small competitors” or “no.competition” versions. These results suggest that.framing the competitive game and emphasizing a.competitive narrative against a larger company can.help a small establishment—and spur consumers to.make a purchase that supports the smaller.competitor..In subsequent studies, we tested this “framing-.the-game” effect in various contexts and product.categories and further found that support for a large.brand decreases when consumers view it as being in.competition with a smaller brand. In one study, we.asked participants to assess two hypothetical rival tire.shops, “Tire World” and “Tire Planet,” under three.conditions—small vs. large, small vs. small or large.vs. large competitors. While participants indicated no.preference for the small or large shop when it was.competing against a competitor of similar size, the.small vs. large competitive context elicited a strong.preference for the small rather than large shop.
Question: The studies in the passage suggest that if customers of a large chain bookstore were given information focusing on the store's small competitors, a likely result is that the large store would
 A. receive more positive reviews from its customers.
 B. gain customers who perceive it as offering more choices than smaller shops.
 C. benefit from people's perception that its competition is now even greater.
 D. lose customers who would now see it as a competitor of the smaller shops.
Answer:

Choices:
- A
- B
- C
- D

Large competitors are often viewed as a major.threat for startups and small companies; big.companies have more financial resources and greater.scale, market power and brand awareness than.smaller ones. However, our research finds that a.smaller brand can actually benefit if consumers can.see the competitive threat it faces from a larger.organization..When a U.S.-based ice cream chain with about 1,400 stores moved within 50 steps of a J.P. Licks ice.cream store in Newton, Massachusetts, some people.expected that J.P. Licks, a small, locally owned.company, would be beaten out of the Newton market..But consumers rallied around J.P. Licks, and the.national chain later closed its nearby location. When.the owner of the Los Angeles-based coffee store chain.The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf could not stop a large.coffee shop chain from moving in next door, he was.surprised to see his sales shoot up—so much so that.he started proactively colocating new stores next to.large chain ones..These examples are not anomalies. In six lab and.field studies, we explored the effects of having a large,.dominant competitor and found that highlighting a.large competitor’s size and close proximity can help.smaller brands, instead of harming them. Compared.to when they are in competition with brands that are.similar to them in size or when consumers view them.outside of a competitive context, small brands see.consumer support go up when they are faced with a.competitive threat from large brands. This support.translates into higher purchase intention, more.purchases and more favorable online reviews..As part of our research, we conducted a field study.at an independent bookstore in Cambridge,.Massachusetts. Upon entering the bookstore, 163.prospective shoppers were exposed to one of three.versions of an in-store ad, emphasizing either the.store’s large competitors, small competitors or no.competition. Shoppers who read the “large.competitors” version were told that the store’s main.competitors are large corporations that have the.ability to put small businesses such as this bookstore.out of business. The “small competitors” version.indicated the store’s main competitors are other.locally owned small bookstores in Cambridge. In the.“no competition” version, participants were given no.information about the competitive environment..Shoppers were then given a $5 coupon, coded with.the in-store ad version they read. Analyzing.shoppers’ sales receipts and the number of redeemed.coupons, we found that shoppers were significantly.more likely to make a purchase after reading the.“large competitors” version of the in-store ad,.compared to the “small competitors” version or the.“no competition” version. They also purchased more.items and spent more money at the store, compared.to shoppers reading the “small competitors” or “no.competition” versions. These results suggest that.framing the competitive game and emphasizing a.competitive narrative against a larger company can.help a small establishment—and spur consumers to.make a purchase that supports the smaller.competitor..In subsequent studies, we tested this “framing-.the-game” effect in various contexts and product.categories and further found that support for a large.brand decreases when consumers view it as being in.competition with a smaller brand. In one study, we.asked participants to assess two hypothetical rival tire.shops, “Tire World” and “Tire Planet,” under three.conditions—small vs. large, small vs. small or large.vs. large competitors. While participants indicated no.preference for the small or large shop when it was.competing against a competitor of similar size, the.small vs. large competitive context elicited a strong.preference for the small rather than large shop.
Question: The studies in the passage suggest that if customers of a large chain bookstore were given information focusing on the store's small competitors, a likely result is that the large store would
 A. receive more positive reviews from its customers.
 B. gain customers who perceive it as offering more choices than smaller shops.
 C. benefit from people's perception that its competition is now even greater.
 D. lose customers who would now see it as a competitor of the smaller shops.
Answer: D


Question:
Solar panel installations continue to grow quickly,.but the solar panel manufacturing industry is in the.doldrums because supply far exceeds demand. The.poor market may be slowing innovation, but.advances continue; judging by the mood this week at.the IEEE Photovoltaics Specialists Conference in.Tampa, Florida, people in the industry remain.optimistic about its long-term prospects..The technology that’s surprised almost everyone.is conventional crystalline silicon. A few years ago,.silicon solar panels cost $4 per watt, and.Martin Green, professor at the University of.New South Wales and one of the leading silicon solar.panel researchers, declared that they’d never go.below $1 a watt. “Now it’s down to something like 50 cents a watt, and there’s talk of hitting 36 cents per.watt,” he says..The U.S. Department of Energy has set a goal of.reaching less than $1 a watt—not just for the solar.panels, but for complete, installed systems—by 2020..Green thinks the solar industry will hit that target.even sooner than that. If so, that would bring the.direct cost of solar power to six cents per.kilowatt-hour, which is cheaper than the average cost.expected for power from new natural gas power.plants..All parts of the silicon solar panel industry have.been looking for ways to cut costs and improve the.power output of solar panels, and that’s led to steady.cost reductions. Green points to something as.mundane as the pastes used to screen-print some of.the features on solar panels. Green’s lab built a solar.cell in the 1990s that set a record efficiency for silicon.solar cells—a record that stands to this day. To.achieve that record, he had to use expensive.lithography techniques to make fine wires for.collecting current from the solar cell. But gradual.improvements have made it possible to use screen.printing to produce ever-finer lines. Recent research.suggests that screen-printing techniques can produce.lines as thin as 30 micrometers—about the width of.the lines Green used for his record solar cells, but at.costs far lower than his lithography techniques..Meanwhile, researchers at the National Renewable.Energy Laboratory have made flexible solar cells on a.new type of glass from Corning called Willow Glass,.which is thin and can be rolled up. The type of solar.cell they made is the only current challenger to.silicon in terms of large-scale production—thin-film.cadmium telluride. Flexible solar cells could lower.the cost of installing solar cells, making solar power.cheaper..One of Green’s former students and colleagues,.Jianhua Zhao, cofounder of solar panel manufacturer.China Sunergy, announced this week that he is.building a pilot manufacturing line for a two-sided.solar cell that can absorb light from both the front.and back. The basic idea, which isn’t new, is that.during some parts of the day, sunlight falls on the.land between rows of solar panels in a solar power.plant. That light reflects onto the back of the panels.and could be harvested to increase the power output..This works particularly well when the solar panels.are built on sand, which is highly reflective. Where a.one-sided solar panel might generate 340 watts, a.two-sided one might generate up to 400 watts. He.expects the panels to generate 10 to 20 percent more.electricity over the course of a year..Even longer-term, Green is betting on silicon,.aiming to take advantage of the huge reductions in.cost already seen with the technology. He hopes to.greatly increase the efficiency of silicon solar panels.by combining silicon with one or two other.semiconductors, each selected to efficiently convert a.part of the solar spectrum that silicon doesn’t convert.efficiently. Adding one semiconductor could boost.efficiencies from the 20 to 25 percent range to.around 40 percent. Adding another could make.efficiencies as high as 50 percent feasible, which.would cut in half the number of solar panels needed.for a given installation. The challenge is to produce.good connections between these semiconductors,.something made challenging by the arrangement of.silicon atoms in crystalline silicon.
Question: The last sentence of the passage mainly serves to
 A. express concern about the limitations of a material.
 B. identify a hurdle that must be overcome.
 C. make a prediction about the effective use of certain devices.
 D. introduce a potential new area of study.
Answer:

Choices:
- A
- B
- C
- D

Solar panel installations continue to grow quickly,.but the solar panel manufacturing industry is in the.doldrums because supply far exceeds demand. The.poor market may be slowing innovation, but.advances continue; judging by the mood this week at.the IEEE Photovoltaics Specialists Conference in.Tampa, Florida, people in the industry remain.optimistic about its long-term prospects..The technology that’s surprised almost everyone.is conventional crystalline silicon. A few years ago,.silicon solar panels cost $4 per watt, and.Martin Green, professor at the University of.New South Wales and one of the leading silicon solar.panel researchers, declared that they’d never go.below $1 a watt. “Now it’s down to something like 50 cents a watt, and there’s talk of hitting 36 cents per.watt,” he says..The U.S. Department of Energy has set a goal of.reaching less than $1 a watt—not just for the solar.panels, but for complete, installed systems—by 2020..Green thinks the solar industry will hit that target.even sooner than that. If so, that would bring the.direct cost of solar power to six cents per.kilowatt-hour, which is cheaper than the average cost.expected for power from new natural gas power.plants..All parts of the silicon solar panel industry have.been looking for ways to cut costs and improve the.power output of solar panels, and that’s led to steady.cost reductions. Green points to something as.mundane as the pastes used to screen-print some of.the features on solar panels. Green’s lab built a solar.cell in the 1990s that set a record efficiency for silicon.solar cells—a record that stands to this day. To.achieve that record, he had to use expensive.lithography techniques to make fine wires for.collecting current from the solar cell. But gradual.improvements have made it possible to use screen.printing to produce ever-finer lines. Recent research.suggests that screen-printing techniques can produce.lines as thin as 30 micrometers—about the width of.the lines Green used for his record solar cells, but at.costs far lower than his lithography techniques..Meanwhile, researchers at the National Renewable.Energy Laboratory have made flexible solar cells on a.new type of glass from Corning called Willow Glass,.which is thin and can be rolled up. The type of solar.cell they made is the only current challenger to.silicon in terms of large-scale production—thin-film.cadmium telluride. Flexible solar cells could lower.the cost of installing solar cells, making solar power.cheaper..One of Green’s former students and colleagues,.Jianhua Zhao, cofounder of solar panel manufacturer.China Sunergy, announced this week that he is.building a pilot manufacturing line for a two-sided.solar cell that can absorb light from both the front.and back. The basic idea, which isn’t new, is that.during some parts of the day, sunlight falls on the.land between rows of solar panels in a solar power.plant. That light reflects onto the back of the panels.and could be harvested to increase the power output..This works particularly well when the solar panels.are built on sand, which is highly reflective. Where a.one-sided solar panel might generate 340 watts, a.two-sided one might generate up to 400 watts. He.expects the panels to generate 10 to 20 percent more.electricity over the course of a year..Even longer-term, Green is betting on silicon,.aiming to take advantage of the huge reductions in.cost already seen with the technology. He hopes to.greatly increase the efficiency of silicon solar panels.by combining silicon with one or two other.semiconductors, each selected to efficiently convert a.part of the solar spectrum that silicon doesn’t convert.efficiently. Adding one semiconductor could boost.efficiencies from the 20 to 25 percent range to.around 40 percent. Adding another could make.efficiencies as high as 50 percent feasible, which.would cut in half the number of solar panels needed.for a given installation. The challenge is to produce.good connections between these semiconductors,.something made challenging by the arrangement of.silicon atoms in crystalline silicon.
Question: The last sentence of the passage mainly serves to
 A. express concern about the limitations of a material.
 B. identify a hurdle that must be overcome.
 C. make a prediction about the effective use of certain devices.
 D. introduce a potential new area of study.
Answer: B