Section 3 (Reading)

Questions 1-8

   With Robert Laurent and William Zorach, direct carving enters into the story of modern sculpture in the United States. Direct carving-in which the sculptors themselves carve stone or wood with mallet and chisel-must be recognized as something more than just a technique. Implicit in it is an aesthetic principle as well that the medium has certain qualities of beauty and expressiveness with which sculptors must bring their own aesthetic sensibilities into harmony. For example, sometimes the shapes or veining in a piece of stone or wood suggests, perhaps even dictates, not only the ultimate form, but even the subject matter.
   With the turn-of-the-century crafts movement and the discovery of nontraditional sources of inspiration, such as wooden African figures and masks, there arose a new large for hands-on, personal execution of art and an interaction with the medium. Even as early as the 1880’s and 1890’s, nonconformist European artists were attempting direct carving. by the second decade of the twentieth century, Americans – Laurent Zorach most notably-had adopted it as their primary means of working.The technique of direct carving was a break with the nineteenth-century tradition in which the making of a clay model was considered the creative art and the work was when turned over to studio assistants to be cast in plaster or bronze or carved in marble. Classical sculptors seldom held a mallet or chisel in their own hands, readily conceding that the assistants they employed were far better than they were at carving the finished marble.
   Born in France, Robert Laurent (1890-1970) was a prodigy who received his education in the United States. In 1905 he was sent to Paris as an apprentice to an art dealer, and in the years that followed he witnessed the birth of Cubism, discovered primitive art, and learned the techniques of woodcarving from a frame maker.
   Back in New York City by 1910, Lauren began carving pieces such as The Priestess which reveals his fascination with African, pre-Columbian, and South specific art. Taking a walnut plank, the sculptor carved the expressive, stylized design. It is one of the earliest examples of direct carving in American Sculpture. The plank’s form dictated the rigidly frontal view and the low relief. Even its irregular shape must have appealed to Laurent as a break with a long-standing tradition that required a sculptor to work within a perfect rectangle or square.

(QUESTION) The word ‘medium’ in line 4 could be used to refer to

What is one of the fundamental principles of direct carving?

The word ‘dictates’ in line 6 is closest in meaning to

How does direct carving differ from the nineteenth-century tradition of sculpture?

The word ‘witnessed’ in line 20 is closest in meaning to

Where did Robert Laurent learn to carve?

The phrase ‘a break with’ in line 26 is closest in meaning to

The piece titled The Priestess has all of the following characteristics EXCEPT:

Questions 9-19

   Birds that feed in flocks commonly retire together into roosts. The reasons for roosting communally are not always obvious, but there are some likely benefits. In winter especially, it is important for birds to keep warm at night and conserve precious food reserves. One way to do this is to find a sheltered roost. Solitary roosters shelter in dense vegetation or enter a cavity – horned larks dig holes in the ground and ptarmigan burrow into snow banks-but the effect of sheltering is magnified by several birds huddling together in the roosts, as wrens, swifts, brow creepers, bluebirds and anis do. Body contact reduces the surface area exposed to the cold air, so the birds keep each other warm. Two kinglets huddling together were found to reduce their heat losses by a quarter and three together saved a third of their heat.
   The second possible benefit of communal roosts is that they act as ‘information centers’. During the day, parties of birds will have spread out to forage over a very large area. When they return in the evening some will have fed well, but others may have found little to eat. Some investigators have observed that when the birds set out again next morning, those birds that did not feed well have on the previous day appear to follow those that did. The behavior of common and lesser kestrels may illustrate different feeding behaviors of similar birds with different roosting habits. The common kestrel lesser vertebrate animals in a small, familiar hunting ground, whereas the very similar lesser kestrel roosts and hunts in flocks, possibly so one bird can learn from others where to find insect swarms.Birds that feed in flocks commonly retire together into roosts. The reasons for roosting communally are not always obvious, but there are some likely benefits. In winter especially, it is important for birds to keep warm at night and conserve precious food reserves. One way to do this is to find a sheltered roost. Solitary roosters shelter in dense vegetation or enter a cavity – horned larks dig holes in the ground and ptarmigan burrow into snow banks-but the effect of sheltering is magnified by several birds huddling together in the roosts, as wrens, swifts, brow creepers, bluebirds and anis do. Body contact reduces the surface area exposed to the cold air, so the birds keep each other warm. Two kinglets huddling together were found to reduce their heat losses by a quarter and three together saved a third of their heat.
   Finally, there is safety in numbers at communal roots since there will always be a few birds awake at any given moment to give the alarm. But this increased protection is partially counteracted by the fact that mass roosts attract predators and are especially vulnerable if they are on the ground. Even those in trees can be attacked by birds of pray. The birds on the edge are at greatest risk since predators find it easier to catch small birds perching at the margins of the roost.

(QUESTION) What does the passage mainly discuss?

The word ‘conserve’ in line 3 is closest in meaning to

Ptarmigan keep warm in the winter by

The word ‘magnified’ in line 5 is closest in meaning to

The author mentions ‘kinglets’ in line 7 as an example of birds that

The word ‘forage’ in line 11 is closest in meaning to

Which of the following statements about lesser and common kestrels is true?

The word ‘counteracted’ in the line 27 is closest in meaning to

Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as an advantage derived by birds that huddle together while sleeping?

Which of the following is a disadvantage of communal roosts that is mentioned in the passage?

The word ‘they’ in line 28 refers to

Question 20-30

   Before the mid-nineteenth century, people in the United States ate most foods only in season. Drying, smoking, and salting could preserve meat for a short time, but the availability of fresh meat, like that of fresh milk, was very limited; there was no way to prevent spoilage. But in 1810 a French inventor named Nicolas Appert developed the cooking-and-sealing process of canning. And in the 1850’s an American named Gail Borden developed a means of condensing and preserving milk. Canned goods and condensed milk became more common during the 1860’s, but supplies remained low because cans had to be made by hand. By 1880, however, inventors had fashioned stamping and soldering machines that mass-produced cans from tinplate. Suddenly all kinds of food could be preserved and bought at all timer of the year.
   Almost everyone now had a more diversified diet. Some people continued to eat mainly foods that were heavy in starches or carbohydrates, and not everyone could afford meat. Nevertheless, many families could take advantage of previously available fruits, vegetables, and dairy products to achieve more varied fare.Other trends and inventions had also helped make it possible for Americans to vary their daily diets. Growing urban populations created demand that encouraged fruit and vegetables farmers to raise more produce. Railroad refrigerator cars enable growers and meat peckers to ship perishables great distances and to preserve them for longer periods. Thus, by the 1890’s, northern city dwellers could enjoy southern and western strawberry, grapes, and tomatoes, previously available for a month at most, for up to six mounts of the year. In addition, increased use of iceboxes enable families to store perishables. An easy means of producing ice commercially had been invented in the 1870’s and by 1900 the nation had more than two thousand commercial ice plants, most of which made home deliveries. The icebox became a fixture in most homes and remained so until the mechanized refrigerator replaced it in the 1920’s and 1930’s.

(QUESTION) What does the passage mainly discuss?

The phrase ‘in season’ in line 1 refers to

The word ‘prevent’ in line 3 is closest in meaning to

During the 1860’s, canned food products were

It can be inferred that railroad refrigerator cars came into use

The word ‘them’ in line 16 refers to

The word ‘fixture’ in line 21 is closest in meaning to

The author implies that in the 1920’s and 1930’s home deliveries of ice

The word ‘nevertheless’ in line 11 is closest in meaning to

Which of the following types of food preservation was NOT mentioned in the passage?

Which of the following statements is supported by the passage?

Question 31-38

   The ability of falling cats right themselves in midair and land on their feet has been a source of wonder for ages. Biologists long regarded it as an example of adaptation by natural selection, but for physicists it bordered on the miraculous. Newton’s laws of motion assume that the total amount. If a cat has body cannot change unless an external torque speeds it up or slows it down. If a cat has spin when it is released and experiences no external torque, it ought not to be able twist around as it falls.
   In the speed of its execution, the righting of a tumbling cat resembles a magicians trick. The gyrations of the in midair are too fast for human eye to follow, so the process is phenomenon to be observed. A century ago the former was accomplished by means of high-speed photography using equipment now available in any pharmacy. But in the nineteenth century the capture on film of a falling cat constituted a scientific experiment.
   The experiment was described in a paper presented to the Paris Academy in 1894. Two sequences of twenty photographs each, one from the side and one from behind, show a white cat in the act of righting itself. Grainy and quaint though they are, the photos show that the cat was dropped upside down, with no initial spin, and still landed on its feet. Careful analysis of the photos reveals the secret: As the cat rotates the front of its body clockwise, the rear and tail twist counterclockwise, so that the total spin remains zero, in perfect accord with Newton’s laws. Halfway down, the cat pulls in its legs before reversing its twist and then extends them again, with the desired and result. The explanation was that while no body can acquire spin without torque, a flexible one can readily change its orientation, or phase. Cats know this instinctively, but scientists could not be sure how it happened until they increased the speed of their perceptions a thousand fold.

(QUESTION) What does the passage mainly discuss?

The word ‘process’ in line 7 refers to

Why are the photographs mentioned in line 16 referred to as an ‘experiment’?

Which of the following can be inferred about high-speed photography in the late 1800’s?

Which of the following can be inferred about high-speed photography in the late 1800’s?

The word ‘rotates’ in line 15 is closest in meaning to

According to the passage, a cat is able to right itself in midair because it is

The word ‘readily’ in line 18 is closest in meaning to

How did scientists increase ‘the speed of their perceptions a thousand fold’ (line 19-20)?

Question 39-50

   The changing profile of a city in the United States is apparent in the shifting definitions used by the United States Bureau of the Census. In 1870 the census officially distinguished the nation’s “Urban” from its “rural” population for the first time. “Urban population” was defined as persons living in towns of 8.000 inhabitants or more. But after 1900 it meant persons living in incorporate places having 2.500 or more in habitants.
   Then, in 1950 the Census Bureau radically changed its definition of “urban” to take account of the new vagueness of city boundaries. In addition to persons living in incorporated units of 2,500 or more, the census now included those who lived in un incorporated units of that size, and also all persons living in the densely settled urban fringe, including both incorporated and unincorporated areas located around cities of 50.000 in habitants or more. Each such unit, conceived as an integrated economic and social unit with a large population nucleus, was named a Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA).
   While the Census Bureau and the United States government used the term SMSA (by 1969 there were 233 of them), social scientists were also using new terms to describe the elusive, vaguely defined areas reaching out from what used to be simple ‘towns’ and ‘cities’. A host of terms came into use : ‘metropolitan regions.’ .polynucleated population groups,. ‘conurbations,’ ‘metropolitan clusters,’ ‘megalapolises,’ and so on.Each SMSA would contain at least (a) one central city with 50.000 inhabitants or more or (b) two cities having shared boundaries and constituting, for general economic and social purposes, a single community with a combined population of at least 50.000 the smaller of which must have a population of at least 15.000. Such an area would include the county in which the central city was located, and adjacent counties that were found to be metropolitan in character and economically and socially integrated with the country of the central. By 1970, about two-thirds of the population of the United States was living in these urbanized areas, and of that figure more than half were living outside the central cities.

(QUESTION) What does the passage mainly discuss?

According to the passage, the population of the United States was firs classified as rural or urban in

The word ‘distinguished’ in line 2 is closest in meaning to

Prior to 1900 how many inhabitants would a town have to have before being defined as urban?

According to the passage, why did the Census Bureau revise the definition of urban in 1950?

The word ‘those’ in line 8 refers to

The word ‘constituting’ in line 17 is closest in meaning to

The word ‘which’ in line 18 refers to a smaller

Which of the following is NOT true of an SMSA?

By 1970, what proportion of the population in the United States did NOT live in an SMSA?

The Census Bureau first used the term “SMSA” in