Directions (1-3): Each of the reading comprehension questions is based on the content of a passage. After reading the passage answer all questions pertaining to it on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage. For each question, select the best answer of the choices given.
Ecoefficiency (measures to minimize environmental impact through the reduction or elimination of waste from production processes) has become a goal for companies worldwide, with many realizing significant cost savings from such innovations. Peter Senge and Goran Carstedt see this development as laudable but suggest that simply adopting ecoefficiency innovations could actually worsen environmental stresses in the future. Such innovations reduce production waste but do not alter the number of products manufactured nor the waste generated from their use and growth. Moreover, there is no guarantee that increased economic growth from ecoefficiency will come in similarly ecoefficient ways, since in today’s global markets, greater profits may be turned into investment capital that could easily be reinvested in old-style eco-inefficient industries.
Even a vastly more ecoefficient industrial system could, were it to grow much larger, generate more total waste and destroy more habitat and species than would a smaller, less ecoefficient economy. Senge and Carstedt argue that to preserve the global environment and sustain economic growth, businesses must develop a new systemic approach that reduces total material use and total accumulated waste. Focusing exclusively on ecoefficiency, which offers a compelling business case according to established thinking, may distract companies from pursuing radically different products and business models.
Q1. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(a) explain why a particular business strategy has been less successful than was once anticipated
(b) propose an alternative to a particular business strategy that has inadvertently caused ecological damage
(c) present a concern about the possible consequences of pursuing a particular business strategy
(d) make a case for applying a particular business strategy on a large scale than is currently practiced
(e) suggest several possible outcomes of companies’ failure to understand the economic impact of a particular business strategy
Q2. The passage mentions which of the following as a possible consequence of companies’ realization of greater profits through ecoefficiency?
(a) The companies may be able to sell a greater number of products by lowering prices.
(b) The companies may be better able to attract investment capital in the global market.
(c) The profits may be reinvested to increase economic growth through ecoefficiency.
(d) The profits may be used as investment capital for industries that are not ecoefficient.
(e) The profits may encourage companies to make further innovations in reducing production waste.
Q3. The passage implies that which of the following is a possible consequence of a company’s adoption of innovations that increase its ecoefficiency?
(a) Company profits resulting from such innovations may be reinvested in that company with no guarantee that the company will continue to make further improvements in ecoefficiency.
(b) Company growth fostered by cost savings from such innovations may allow that company to manufacture a greater number of products that will be used and discarded, thus worsening environmental stress.
(c) A company that fails to realize significant cost savings from such innovations may have little incentive to continue to minimize the environmental impact of its production processes.
(d) A company that comes to depend on such innovations to increase its profits and growth may be vulnerable in the global market to competition from old-style eco-inefficient industries.
(e) A company that meets its ecoefficiency goals is unlikely to invest its increased profits in the development of new and innovative ecoefficiency measures.
Directions (4-8): Each of the reading comprehension questions is based on the content of a passage. After reading the passage answer all questions pertaining to it on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage. For each question, select the best answer of the choices given.
A recent study has provided clues to predator-prey dynamics in the late Pleistocene era. Researchers compared the number of tooth fractures in present-day carnivores with tooth fractures in carnivores that lived 36,000 to 10,000 years ago and that were preserved in the Rancho La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles. The breakage frequencies in the extinct species were strikingly higher than those in the present-day species.
In considering possible explanations for this finding, the researchers dismissed demographic bias because older individuals were not overrepresented in the fossil samples. They rejected preservational bias because a total absence of breakage in two extinct species demonstrated that the fractures were not the result of abrasion within the pits. They ruled out local bias because breakage data obtained from other Pleistocene sites were similar to the La Brea data. The explanation they consider most plausible is behavioral differences between extinct and present-day carnivores-in particular, more contact between the teeth of predators and the bones of prey due to more thorough consumption of carcasses by the extinct species. Such thorough carcass consumption implies to the researchers either that prey availability was low, at least seasonally, or that there was intense competition over kills and a high rate of carcass theft due to relatively high predator densities.
Q4. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(a) present several explanations for a well-known fact
(b) suggest alternative methods for resolving a debate
(c) argue in favor of a controversial theory
(d) question the methodology used in a study
(e) discuss the implications of a research finding
Q5. According to the passage, compared with Pleistocene carnivores in other areas, Pleistocene carnivores in the La Brea area
(a) included the same species, in approximately the same proportions
(b) had a similar frequency of tooth fractures
(c) populated the La Brea area more densely
(d) consumed their prey more thoroughly
(e) found it harder to obtain sufficient prey
Q6. According to the passage, the researchers believe that the high frequency of tooth breakage in carnivores found at La Brea was caused primarily by
(a) the aging process in individual carnivores
(b) contact between the fossils in the pits
(c) poor preservation of the fossils after they were removed from the pits
(d) the impact of carnivores’ teeth against the bones of their prey
(e) the impact of carnivores’ teeth against the bones of other carnivores during fights over kills
Q7. The researchers’ conclusion concerning the absence of demographic bias would be most seriously undermined if it were found that
(a) the older an individual carnivore is, the more likely it is to have a large number of tooth fractures
(b) the average age at death of a present-day carnivore is greater than was the average age at death of a Pleistocene carnivore
(c) in Pleistocene carnivore species, older individuals consumed carcasses as thoroughly as did younger individuals
(d) the methods used to determine animals’ ages in fossil samples tend to misidentify many older individuals as younger individuals
(e) data concerning the ages of fossil samples cannot provide reliable information about behavioral differences between extinct carnivores and present-day carnivores
Q8. According to the passage, if the researchers had NOT found that two extinct carnivore species were free of tooth breakage, the researchers would have concluded that
(a) the difference in breakage frequencies could have been the result of damage to the fossil remains in the La Brea pits
(b) the fossils in other Pleistocene sites could have higher breakage frequencies than do the fossils in the La Brea pits
(c) Pleistocene carnivore species probably behaved very similarly to one another with respect to consumption of carcasses
(d) all Pleistocene carnivore species differed behaviorally from present-day carnivore species
(e) predator densities during the Pleistocene era were extremely high
Directions (9-11): Each of the reading comprehension questions is based on the content of a passage. After reading the passage answer all questions pertaining to it on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage. For each question, select the best answer of the choices given.
Archaeology as a profession faces two major problems. First, it is the poorest of the poor. Only paltry sums are available for excavating and even less is available for publishing the results and preserving the sites once excavated. Yet archaeologists deal with priceless objects every day. Second, there is the problem of illegal excavation, resulting in museum-quality pieces being sold to the highest bidder.
I would like to make an outrageous suggestion that would at one stroke provide funds for archaeology and reduce the amount of illegal digging. I would propose that scientific archaeological expeditions and governmental authorities sell excavated artifacts on the open market. Such sales would provide substantial funds for the excavation and preservation of archaeological sites and the publication of results. At the same time, they would break the illegal excavator’s grip on the market, thereby decreasing the inducement to engage in illegal activities.
You might object that professionals excavate to acquire knowledge, not money. Moreover, ancient artifacts are part of our global cultural heritage, which should be available for all to appreciate, not sold to the highest bidder. I agree. Sell nothing that has unique artistic merit or scientific value. But, you might reply, everything that comes out of the ground has scientific value. Here we part company. Theoretically, you may be correct in claiming that every artifact has potential scientific value. Practically, you are wrong.
I refer to the thousands of pottery vessels and ancient lamps that are essentially duplicates of one another. In one small excavation in Cyprus, archaeologists recently uncovered 2,000 virtually indistinguishable small jugs in a single courtyard. Even precious royal seal impressions known as I’melekh handles have been found in abundance-more than 4,000 examples so far.
The basements of museums are simply not large enough to store the artifacts that are likely to be discovered in the future. There is not enough money even to catalog the finds; as a result, they cannot be found again and become as inaccessible as if they had never been discovered. Indeed, with the help of a computer, sold artifacts could be more accessible than are the pieces stored in bulging museum basements. Prior to sale, each could be photographed and the list of the purchasers could be maintained on the computer. A purchaser could even be required to agree to return the piece if it should become needed for scientific purposes.
It would be unrealistic to suggest that illegal digging would stop if artifacts were sold on the open market. But the demand for the clandestine product would be substantially reduced. Who would want an unmarked not when another was available whose provenance was known, and that was dated stratigraphically by the professional archaeologist who excavated it?
Q9. The primary purpose of the passage is to propose
(a) an alternative to museum display of artifacts
(b) a way to curb illegal digging while benefiting the archaeological profession
(c) a way to distinguish artifacts with scientific value from those that have no such value
(d) the governmental regulation of archaeological sites
(e) a new system for cataloging duplicate artifacts
Q10. The author implies that all of the following statements about duplicate artifacts are true EXCEPT
(a) a market for such artifacts already exists.
(b) such artifacts seldom have scientific value
(c) there is likely to be a continuing supply of such artifacts
(d) museums are well supplied with examples of such artifacts
(e) such artifacts frequently exceed in quality those already cataloged in museum collections
Q11. Which of the following is mentioned in the passage as a disadvantage of storing artifacts in museum basements?
(a) Museum officials rarely allow scholars access to such artifacts.
(b) Space that could be better used for display is taken up for storage.
(c) Artifacts discovered in one excavation often become separated from each other.
(d) Such artifacts are often damaged by variations in temperature and humidity.
(e) Such artifacts often remain uncatalogued and thus cannot be located once they are put in storage.
Directions (12-15): Choose the word which is most similar in meaning to the word printed in bold as used in the above passages.
Q12. excavate
(a) precise
(b) discernible
(c) explanatory
(d) enumerate
(e) bore
Q13. outrageous
(a) alternatives
(b) distracters
(c) answers
(d) atrocious
(e) directions
Q14. indistinguishable
(a) longitude
(b) depletion
(c) identical
(d) replenishment
(e) reclamation
Q15. inducement
(a) single
(b) alone
(c) lonely
(d) stimulus
(e) multiple
Solutions
S1. Ans.(c)
Sol. present a concern about the possible consequences of pursuing a particular business strategy
S2. Ans.(d)
Sol. The profits may be used as investment capital for industries that are not ecoefficient.
S3. Ans.(b)
Sol. Company growth fostered by cost savings from such innovations may allow that company to manufacture a greater number of products that will be used and discarded, thus worsening environmental stress.
S4. Ans.(e)
Sol. discuss the implications of a research finding
S5. Ans.(b)
Sol. had a similar frequency of tooth fractures
S6. Ans.(d)
Sol. the impact of carnivores’ teeth against the bones of their prey
S7. Ans.(d)
Sol. the methods used to determine animals’ ages in fossil samples tend to misidentify many older individuals as younger individuals
S8. Ans.(a)
Sol. the difference in breakage frequencies could have been the result of damage to the fossil remains in the La Brea pits
S9. Ans.(b)
Sol. a way to curb illegal digging while benefiting the archaeological profession
S10. Ans.(e)
Sol. such artifacts frequently exceed in quality those already cataloged in museum collections
S11. Ans.(e)
Sol. Such artifacts often remain uncatalogued and thus cannot be located once they are put in storage.
S12. Ans.(e)
Sol. excavate-remove earth carefully from (an area) in order to find buried remains.
S13. Ans.(d)
Sol. outrageous-shockingly bad or excessive.
S14. Ans.(c)
Sol. indistinguishable-not able to be identified as different or distinct.
S15. Ans.(d)
Sol. inducement-a thing that persuades or leads someone to do something.
