Text 1

Many studies in psychology have shown that people seek out information even when they know in advance that they have no immediate use for it and that they won’t directly benefit from it. Such findings support the consensus view among researchers of curiosity: namely, that curiosity is not instrumental but instead represents a drive to acquire information for its own sake.

Text 2

While acknowledging that acquiring information is a powerful motivator, Rachit Dubey and colleagues ran an experiment to test whether emphasizing the usefulness of scientific information could increase curiosity about it. They found that when research involving rats and fruit flies was presented as having medical applications for humans, participants expressed greater interest in learning about it than when the research was not presented as useful.

Based on the texts, how would Dubey and colleagues (Text 2) most likely respond to the consensus view discussed in Text 1?

A)By conceding that people may seek out information that serves no immediate purpose only because they think they can use it later.

B) By suggesting that curiosity may not be exclusively motivated by the desire to merely acquire information.

C) By pointing out that it is challenging to determine when information-seeking serves no goal beyond acquiring information.

D) By disputing the idea that curiosity can help explain apparently purposeless information-seeking behaviors.

Text 1

Microbes are tiny organisms in the soil, water, and air all around us. They thrive even in very harsh conditions. That’s why Noah Fierer and colleagues were surprised when soil samples they collected from an extremely cold, dry area in Antarctica didn’t seem to contain any life. The finding doesn’t prove that there are no microbes in that area, but the team says it does suggest that the environment severely restricts microbes’ survival.

Text 2

Microbes are found in virtually every environment on Earth. So it’s unlikely they would be completely absent from Fierer’s team’s study site, no matter how extreme the environment is. There were probably so few organisms in the samples that current technology couldn’t detect them. But since a spoonful of typical soil elsewhere might contain billions of microbes, the presence of so few in the Antarctic soil samples would show how challenging the conditions are.

Based on the texts, Fierer’s team and the author of Text 2 would most likely agree with which statement about microbes?

A)Most microbes are better able to survive in environments with extremely dry conditions than in environments with harsh temperatures.

B) A much higher number of microbes would probably be found if another sample of soil were taken from the Antarctic study site.

C) Microbes are likely difficult to detect in the soil at the Antarctic study site because they tend to be smaller than microbes found in typical soil elsewhere.

D) Most microbes are probably unable to withstand the soil conditions at the Antarctic study site.

Text 1

The idea that time moves in only one direction is instinctively understood, yet it puzzles physicists. According to the second law of thermodynamics, at a macroscopic level some processes of heat transfer are irreversible due to the production of entropy—after a transfer we cannot rewind time and place molecules back exactly where they were before, just as we cannot unbreak dropped eggs. But laws of physics at a microscopic or quantum level hold that those processes should be reversible.

Text 2

In 2015, physicists Tiago Batalhão et al. performed an experiment in which they confirmed the irreversibility of thermodynamic processes at a quantum level, producing entropy by applying a rapidly oscillating magnetic field to a system of carbon-13 atoms in liquid chloroform. But the experiment “does not pinpoint …​ what causes [irreversibility] at the microscopic level,” coauthor Mauro Paternostro said.

Based on the texts, what would the author of Text 1 most likely say about the experiment described in Text 2?

A) It provides empirical evidence that the current understanding of an aspect of physics at a microscopic level must be incomplete.

B) It would suggest an interesting direction for future research were it not the case that two of the physicists who conducted the experiment disagree on the significance of its findings.

C) It is consistent with the current understanding of physics at a microscopic level but not at a macroscopic level.

D) It supports a claim about an isolated system of atoms in a laboratory, but that claim should not be extrapolated to a general claim about the universe.

Text 1

A tiny, unusual fossil in a piece of 99-million-year-old amber is of the extinct species Oculudentavis khaungraae. The O. khaungraae fossil consists of a rounded skull with a thin snout and a large eye socket. Because these features look like they are avian, or related to birds, researchers initially thought that the fossil might be the smallest avian dinosaur ever found.

Text 2

Paleontologists were excited to discover a second small fossil that is similar to the strange O. khaungraae fossil but has part of the lower body along with a birdlike skull. Detailed studies of both fossils revealed several traits that are found in lizards but not in dinosaurs or birds. Therefore, paleontologists think the two creatures were probably unusual lizards, even though the skulls looked avian at first.

Based on the texts, what would the paleontologists in Text 2 most likely say about the researchers’ initial thought in Text 1?

A)It is confusing because it isn’t clear what caused the researchers to think that O. khaungraae might be related to birds.

B) It is flawed because the researchers mistakenly assumed that O. khaungraae must be a lizard.

C) It is understandable because the fossil does look like it could be related to birds, even though O. khaungraae is probably a lizard.

D) It is reasonable because the O. khaungraae skull is about the same size as the skull of the second fossil but is shaped differently.

Text 1

Digital art, the use of digital technology to create or display images, isn’t really art at all. It doesn’t require as much skill as creating physical art. “Painting” with a tablet and stylus is much easier than using paint and a brush: the technology is doing most of the work.

Text 2

The painting programs used to create digital art involve more than just pressing a few buttons. In addition to knowing the fundamentals of art, digital artists need to be familiar with sophisticated software. Many artists will start by drawing an image on paper before transforming the piece to a digital format, where they can apply a variety of colors and techniques that would otherwise require many different traditional tools.

Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the claims of the author of Text 1?

A)By arguing that a piece of art created digitally can still be displayed traditionally.

B) By insisting that digital art requires artistic abilities and skill even if it employs less traditional tools.

C) By explaining that it’s actually much harder to use a tablet and stylus to create art than to use paint and a brush.

D) By admitting that most digital artists don’t think fundamental drawing skills are important.

Text 1

Philosopher G.E. Moore’s most influential work entails the concept of common sense. He asserts that there are certain beliefs that all people, including philosophers, know instinctively to be true, whether or not they profess otherwise: among them, that they have bodies, or that they exist in a world with other objects that have three dimensions. Moore’s careful work on common sense may seem obvious but was in fact groundbreaking.

Text 2

External world skepticism is a philosophical stance supposing that we cannot be sure of the existence of anything outside our own minds. During a lecture, G.E. Moore once offered a proof refuting this stance by holding out his hands and saying, “Here is one hand, and here is another.” Many philosophers reflexively reject this proof (Annalisa Coliva called it “an obviously annoying failure”) but have found it a challenge to articulate exactly why the proof fails.

Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 1 most likely respond to proponents of the philosophical stance outlined in Text 2?

A)By agreeing with those proponents that Moore’s treatment of positions that contradict his own is fundamentally unserious.

B) By suggesting that an instinctive distaste for Moore’s position is preventing external world skeptics from constructing a sufficiently rigorous refutation of Moore.

C) By pointing out that Moore would assert that external world skepticism is at odds with other beliefs those proponents must unavoidably hold.

D) By arguing that if it is valid to assert that some facts are true based on instinct, it is also valid to assert that some proofs are inadequate based on instinct.

Text 1

In 1916, H. Dugdale Sykes disputed claims that The Two Noble Kinsmen was coauthored by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher. Sykes felt Fletcher’s contributions to the play were obvious—Fletcher had a distinct style in his other plays, so much so that lines with that style were considered sufficient evidence of Fletcher’s authorship. But for the lines not deemed to be by Fletcher, Sykes felt that their depiction of women indicated that their author was not Shakespeare but Philip Massinger.

Text 2

Scholars have accepted The Two Noble Kinsmen as coauthored by Shakespeare since the 1970s: it appears in all major one volume editions of Shakespeare’s complete works. Though scholars disagree about who wrote what exactly, it is generally held that on the basis of style, Shakespeare wrote all of the first act and most of the last, while John Fletcher authored most of the three middle acts.

Based on the texts, both Sykes in Text 1 and the scholars in Text 2 would most likely agree with which statement?

A)The women characters in John Fletcher’s plays are similar to the women characters in Philip Massinger’s plays.

B) The Two Noble Kinsmen belongs in one-volume compilations of Shakespeare’s complete plays.

C) Philip Massinger’s style in the first and last acts of The Two Noble Kinsmen is an homage to Shakespeare’s style.

D) John Fletcher’s writing has a unique, readily identifiable style.

Text 1

Growth in the use of novel nanohybrids—materials created from the conjugation of multiple distinct nanomaterials, such as iron oxide and gold nanomaterials conjugated for use in magnetic imaging—has outpaced studies of nanohybrids’ environmental risks. Unfortunately, risk evaluations based on nanohybrids’ constituents are not reliable: conjugation may alter constituents’ physiochemical properties such that innocuous nanomaterials form a nanohybrid that is anything but.

Text 2

The potential for enhanced toxicity of nanohybrids relative to the toxicity of constituent nanomaterials has drawn deserved attention, but the effects of nanomaterial conjugation vary by case. For instance, it was recently shown that a nanohybrid of silicon dioxide and zinc oxide preserved the desired optical transparency of zinc oxide nanoparticles while mitigating the nanoparticles’ potential to damage DNA.

Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the assertion in the underlined portion of Text 1?

A)By concurring that the risk described in Text 1 should be evaluated but emphasizing that the risk is more than offset by the potential benefits of nanomaterial conjugation.

B) By arguing that the situation described in Text 1 may not be representative but conceding that the effects of nanomaterial conjugation are harder to predict than researchers had expected.

C) By agreeing that the possibility described in Text 1 is a cause for concern but pointing out that nanomaterial conjugation does not inevitably produce that result.

D) By denying that the circumstance described in Text 1 is likely to occur but acknowledging that many aspects of nanomaterial conjugation are still poorly understood.

Text 1

Africa’s Sahara region—once a lush ecosystem—began to dry out about 8,000 years ago. A change in Earth’s orbit that affected climate has been posited as a cause of desertification, but archaeologist David Wright also attributes the shift to Neolithic peoples. He cites their adoption of pastoralism as a factor in the region drying out: the pastoralists’ livestock depleted vegetation, prompting the events that created the Sahara Desert.

Text 2

Research by Chris Brierley et al. challenges the idea that Neolithic peoples contributed to the Sahara’s desertification. Using a climate-vegetation model, the team concluded that the end of the region’s humid period occurred 500 years earlier than previously assumed. The timing suggests that Neolithic peoples didn’t exacerbate aridity in the region but, in fact, may have helped delay environmental changes with practices (e.g., selective grazing) that preserved vegetation.

Based on the texts, how would Chris Brierley (Text 2) most likely respond to the discussion in Text 1?

A)By claiming that pastoralism was only one of many behaviors the Neolithic peoples took part in that may have contributed to the Sahara’s changing climate.

B) By insisting that pastoralism can have both beneficial and deleterious effects on a region’s vegetation and climate. C) By pointing out that given the revised timeline for the end of the Sahara’s humid period, the Neolithic peoples’ mode of subsistence likely didn’t cause the region’s desertification.

D) By asserting that more research needs to be conducted into factors that likely contributed to the desertification of the Sahara region.

Text 1

Soy sauce, made from fermented soybeans, is noted for its umami flavor. Umami—one of the five basic tastes along with sweet, bitter, salty, and sour—was formally classified when its taste receptors were discovered in the 2000s. In 2007, to define the pure umami flavor scientists Rie Ishii and Michael O’Mahony used broths made from shiitake mushrooms and kombu seaweed, and two panels of Japanese and US judges closely agreed on a description of the taste.

Text 2

A 2022 experiment by Manon Jünger et al. led to a greater understanding of soy sauce’s flavor profile. The team initially presented a mixture of compounds with low molecular weights to taste testers who found it was not as salty or bitter as real soy sauce. Further analysis of soy sauce identified proteins, including dipeptides, that enhanced umami flavor and also contributed to saltiness. The team then made a mix of 50 chemical compounds that re-created soy sauce’s flavor.

Based on the texts, if Ishii and O’Mahony (Text 1) and Jünger et al. (Text 2) were aware of the findings of both experiments,they would most likely agree with which statement?

A)The broths in the 2007 experiment most likely did not have a substantial amount of the dipeptides that played a key part in the 2022 experiment.

B) On average, the diets of people in the United States tend to have fewer foods that contain certain dipeptides than the diets of people in Japan have.

C) Chemical compounds that activate both the umami and salty taste receptors tend to have a higher molecular weight than those that only activate umami taste receptors.

D) Fermentation introduces proteins responsible for the increase of umami flavor in soy sauce, and those proteins also increase the perception of saltiness.