MCAT verbal test (20)

A, C, and D stated or implied in Paragraphs 1 1st sentence, 2 final sentence, and 3 5th sentence; these are all examples of 180° classic wrong answer choices.. Though the author also men

MCAT Section Tests

Dear Future Doctor,

The following Section Test and explanations should be used to practice and to assess your mastery of critical thinking in each of the section areas Topics are confluent and are not necessarily in any specific order or fixed proportion This is the level of integration in your preparation that collects what you have learned in the Kaplan classroom and synthesizes your knowledge with your critical thinking Simply completing the tests is inadequate; a solid understanding of your performance through your Score Reports and the explanations is necessary to diagnose your specific weaknesses and address them before Test Day

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Sincerely,

Albert Chen

Executive Director, Pre-Health Research and Development

Kaplan Test Prep

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All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by Photostat, microfilm, xerography or any other means, or incorporated into any information retrieval system, electronic

or mechanical without the written permission of Kaplan, Inc This book may not be duplicated,

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ANSWER KEY

1 B

2 B

3 A

4 D

5 C

6 A

7 C

8 C

9 A

10 C

11 B

12 D

13 C

14 D

15 C

16 B

17 B

18 D

19 A

20 C

21 D

22 B

23 A

24 B

25 D

26 A

27 B

28 C

29 B

30 A

31 B

32 D

33 B

34 D

35 C

36 A

37 B

38 C

39 D

40 A

41 C

42 A

43 B

44 D

45 B

46 D

47 A

48 C

49 B

50 D

51 D

52 B

53 C

54 C

55 B

56 D

57 B

58 A

59 B

60 C

Material used in this test section has been adapted from the following sources:

Henry James French Poets and Novelists London: Macmillan and Co., 1884

Passage I (Questions 1-7)

Topic: The fable

Scope: To describe the instructional purpose of, and narrative techniques used in, the fable

Paragraph 1 defines the tale, the parable, and the fable, indicating the differences among these different narrative forms The author considers the fable superior to the other two because of its focus on conveying a moral maxim, social duty, or political truth

Paragraph 2 further explains the goals of the fable, and lists certain devices included in the text which may help to accomplish communication of its didactic message By cloaking the message within a fictional text, the fabulist assures that readers will be responsible for proper perception and interpretation of the intended lesson

Paragraph 3 describes why the fabulist is important, and the varying roles the fabulist plays in society as a teacher, censor, and model of behavior

1 B

Paragraph 2 describes several rhetorical, or figurative, techniques used by the fabulist, including fictitious characters, speaking animals, and living trees These are elements

of the fable that are praised by the author as successful means of subtly conveying a lesson (A), (C), and (D) stated or implied in Paragraphs 1 (1st sentence), 2 (final sentence), and 3 (5th sentence); these are all examples of 180° classic wrong answer choices

2 B

Paragraph 1 praises the potential moral function of the fable in its final sentence, mentions the use of language in the parable in the same sentence as a potential problem, and favorably compares the fable to the parable because of this difference between the two Though the author also mentions that the tale can be a report of historical events in the 3rd sentence of Paragraph 1, this characteristic is not given as a flaw nor used as a major point of contrast to justify the superiority of the fable

3 A

The main lack for which the author criticizes the parable and tale is that they do not combine a lesson with a fictional narrative Answer choices (B) and (D) are OS, and (C)

is FUD of a detail in the 3rd sentence of Paragraph 1

4 D

(A) is found in Paragraph 2; (B) and (C) are both mentioned in Paragraph 1 Only (D) is not indicated as necessary for a fable

5 C

The author turns to Phaedrus to corroborate his conclusion that a fabulist has the dual function of both amusing and instructing readers (A), (B), and (C) are all OS wrong answer choices

6 A

If readers do not apply what they read in fiction to their own experiences, then the lesson contained in the fable will not be successful (B) and (D) are 180° answer choices, for they would both serve to strengthen the author’s conclusion (C) is FUD of one of the criticisms mentioned regarding parables

7 C

The author of the passage is clearly laudatory in his opinion of the fabulist, and only answer choice (C) reflects this subjectivity Answer choices (A) and (B) are to neutral,

with their terms analysis and conclusion, and (D), although certainly suggesting the

author’s favorable attitude towards fabulists, is OS, since the author never mentions honor and respect

Passage II (Questions 8-13)

Topic and Scope: The pattern of early marine evolution, particularly whether or not there were more phyla immediately after the Cambrian explosion than today

Purpose: The author considers the argument between conventional theorists and

revisionists Conventional theorists thought they had early marine evolution figured out, assigning even odd-ball fossils like the Problematica to present-day phyla The

revisionists, in contrast, think the Problematica occupy phyla of their own, which arose during the Cambrian explosion and then died out

Paragraph 1 consists of a discussion of the appearance of the present day phyla during the Cambrian explosion and a few notes on what makes up a phylum

Paragraph 2 describes the Problematica and why they don’t fit in present day phyla Paragraph 3 details the conclusions that revisionists draw from this—there were other phyla that appeared in the Cambrian and then died out

Paragraph 4 is a summing up of the difference between the conventional theorists’ and the revisionists’ views

8 C

This inference question is a good illustration of the value of a firm grip on the main idea and author’s purpose The revisionists think the Problematica occupy phyla of their own, which arose during the Cambrian explosion and then died out Hence, they are critical

of trying to classify them into present phyla Choice C reflects this attitude

Choices A and B misidentify the revisionists’ point of view; since they see these efforts

as wrong-headed, they won’t react in either of these ways

Choice D is wrong because they have a clear, sharp point of view on the question

9 A

This question asks the function of certain statements in the passage Why is the author doing what he is doing? Paragraph 1 states the conventional view that the Cambrian species all (or nearly all) fit in present phyla; paragraph 2 challenges this idea, and then gives several examples Obviously, the examples given will be creatures that don’t fit neatly into present phyla, which is choice A Choice A is also specifically justified by last sentence of paragraph 2: If the Ediacaran fauna approach to respiration was like that of only a few modern creatures that are totally different from them in other ways, then they would not fit comfortably into any known phylum

Choice B is wrong At least some of these physiological processes were similar to those

of tapeworms They could and did absorb and excrete fluids (choice C)—even though they did it in an unusual manner And the fact that they didn’t resemble modern

creatures doesn’t mean that they were closely related to Tullimonstrum All we know about Tullimonstrum is that it was banana shaped

10 C

This is an inference question about present-day phyla, so look in the passage in which modern phyla are mentioned A phylum (as stated in the middle of paragraph 1 is a group of organisms with “the same basic pattern of organization,” that is, possessing similar structures; today, there is a small number of phyla, each containing a large number of species (fourth sentence of paragraph 3) Putting these two points together gives us choice C

Choice A is the situation that existed during the Cambrian, according to the revisionists Choice B is also out; diversity within phyla is not mentioned Choice D is contradicted

by the discussion of natural selection in paragraph 4: All species undergo evolutionary change

11 B

This is another logic question These organisms are mentioned in the middle of

paragraph 1, when the author defines phylum as “a group of organisms with the same basic pattern of organization,” such as the “radial symmetry of jellyfish and other

coelenterates.” The author is giving familiar examples to illustrate the concept of a pattern of organization, and jellyfish and worms are present-day creatures Choice B captures this idea

These phyla have not died out, so you can eliminate choice A As they are present-day phyla, they are not closely related to the Problematica (choice C) The passage never mentions when these organisms evolved (choice D)

12 D

This detail question asks what the conventional and revisionist theorists do not disagree about They disagree on nearly everything, but they agree on choice D, as stated

explicitly at the beginning of paragraph 4 This is our answer (That sentence doesn’t mention the Cambrian period specifically, but the entire passage is about the

Cambrian.)

Choice A is an Opposite choice: It actually identifies the scientists’ overall

disagreement Choices B and C are also specific points of disagreement

13 C

This is a detail question, so go to paragraph 2 in which the Problematica are discussed Statement I is true; the Problematica had unusual “patterns of organization”—that is, unusual shapes—which make them difficult to fit into modern phyla Statement II is also true; the second half of paragraph 3 notes that the unusual physiology of the Ediacaran fauna place it within the Problematica Statement III is not mentioned in the passage;

we don’t know when these organisms became extinct

Passage III (Questions 14-20)

Paragraph 1 introduces George Sand as an example of a female author who wrote under a male pseudonym, and whose pen name has become more familiar than her original given female name

Paragraph 2 explores one possible reason for choosing the pen name George Sand: at the beginning of her writing career, she collaborated with Jules Sandeau, and their publisher suggested the joint name J Sand for their works Once Sandeau’s contribution decreased, however, Aurore decided to slightly change the pseudonym but

to retain the last name because it was already familiar to her reading public

Paragraph 3 presents a second possible reason for the pen name: the last name can be seen as a representation of important places, people, and names in Aurore’s life This particular explanation emphasizes the author’s talent and creativity rather than giving credit for her pseudonym to a publisher or an early lover The two reasons are not necessarily mutually exclusive, for Aurore was aware of the connection between her pen name and her lover’s name

Paragraph 4 describes some of the advantages and consequences of using a male pseudonym The passage concludes by declaring that the reasons for choosing this masculine pen name are really not important to an appreciation of George Sand’s vast and varied literary work

14 D

The author does not express a very strong opinion about the use of pseudonyms, so answers (A), (B), and (C) are distortion of the author’s attitude Only (D) correctly describes the author’s curiosity about George Sand’s pseudonym, as shown by the transitional sentence at the end of paragraph 1

15 C

Paragraph 2 mentions both (A) and (D) and paragraph 3 explains (B) The passage never indicates if she was unable to publish works under her given name and was thus forced to write under a pseudonym

16 B

Paragraph 4 indicates that the use of a male pseudonym correlated nicely with George Sand’s dressing habits, allowed her more liberty within Parisian society, and helped to

distance her persona as a writer from the other roles she fulfilled (A) is completely Outside the Scope; (C) is a Distortion of the information in paragraph 2; (D) is a Distortion of the first few sentences of paragraph 4

17 B

The author appeals to Cate’s authority as a biographer of George Sand in paragraph 2

in order to provide evidence for the first reason given as to why and how Aurore Dupin chose her pen name (A) and (C) are distortions of the reasoning and information in paragraph 2, and (D) is totally Outside the Scope

18 D

This choice is FUD of the 3rd sentence of paragraph 1, which refers to portraits of the author which did not mention her real name (A), (B), and (C) are all detailed in paragraph 1 and are given as reasons for the familiarity of her male pseudonym as opposed to the relative obscurity of her given female name

19 A

The first sentence of paragraph 3 strongly suggests that the author favors this second reason, since it gives more credit to Aurore Dupin as a creative talent (B) starts off well, but the second part is 180° from the information in the middle of paragraph 3 (C)

is Outside the Scope: the author never describes George Sand as “rational” and

“innovative.” (D) is a Distortion of the second sentence of paragraph 3

20 C

The first sentence of paragraph 4 draws this exact comparison between her masculine dress and her masculine pseudonym (A), (B), and (D) are all Outside the Scope, and (A) and (B) are 180° from the description of her roles in life given in the 3rd sentence of paragraph 4

Passage IV (Questions 21-26)

Topic and Scope: The main idea of this descriptive passage about boomtowns is simply that these towns experience many infrastructure problems as a result of rapid

population fluctuations, and these problems damage the quality of life for all residents The first paragraph provides a definition of boomtowns and lists their problems The second paragraph talks about rapid population fluctuations in boomtowns Even though structural signals have not been covered yet, you may want to elicit from students that the structural signal “Hence” links rapid population fluctuations to infrastructure

problems The third paragraph discusses another contributing factor to boomtown problems; inadequate tax revenues The structural signal “For example” indicates that the author is about to provide an example of the preceding point—that boomtowns are often unable to tax development projects that affect them The last paragraph lists

some of the specific infrastructure problems of boomtowns and their social

consequences for old and new full-time residents The structural signal “Until recently” suggests that these problems have finally been acknowledged by urban planners

21 D

All three options are mentioned in the first and/or last paragraph as possible

consequences of poor planning and underfinancing: option I (unsatisfactory labor

conditions) see lines 13 and 67-70 Option II (inadequate police protections) see lines 50-51 Option III (poor community relations) see lines 9-16 Note that once a student has decided that both I and II are possible, there’s no need to even look at III, because choices (A), (B), and (C) can all be eliminated

22 B

This is an ALL/EXCEPT detail problem that should be done by the process of

elimination Choice (A) is mentioned in lines 24-26, so it can be eliminated Choice (C)

is mentioned in lines 42-44; and (D) is in lines 33-36 Thus, by elimination, the answer is (B)

23 A

The correct choice for this “inference” question is (A), which uses different language to make a point that is made in the text See second paragraph

24 B

Choice (A) is too strongly negative in tone to describe the author’s attitude toward

boomtown-related tax programs (D) complacent (meaning self-satisfied), in contrast, is

too positive (C) isn’t right because there’s nothing in the third paragraph to suggest that the author is astonished by these programs (B), however, sounds right The author describes these programs in a matter-of-fact manner that suggests “concern,” but not anger or dismay

25 D

The point made in choice (D) appears in the middle of both the first and the fourth

paragraphs

26 A

The first sentence of the last paragraph states a finding — large-scale development in sparsely populated areas causes social problems The rest of the paragraph then goes

on to describe these problems in some detail That makes (A) the correct answer (B), (C) and (D) are easy to eliminate, since no prediction is made, no point of view is stated, and no proposal is set forth

Passage V (Questions 27- 33)

Topic: Poetry

Scope: How factual errors of imitation in poetry can be justified by artistic means

Paragraph 1 introduces three types of imitation and the thesis that poetry does not need

to be as accurate or correct as politics or other arts

Paragraph 2 describes two kinds of errors that may be found in poetry as well as how these errors should be interpreted in terms of their fault’s severity

Paragraph 3 explains in further detail the common poetic errors and how they can be justified

Paragraph 4 gives the poet potential responses to objections or criticism regarding poetic errors in comparison to reality or probability, and mentions Sophocles and Euripides as exemplar authors

Paragraph 5 concludes with a contrast between the possible and the probable, and expresses the author’s preference for probable impossibility as opposed to improbably possibility

27 B

The end of paragraph 1 and the beginning of paragraph 2 describe how certain errors of accuracy or factual information can be excused so long as the poet’s language is not faulty Answer choices (A), (C), and (D) all fall into this category of error; only (B) mentions an error at the level of language as opposed to content

28 C

Paragraph 3 contrasts Sophocles and Euripides in that the former describes humans in

an idealized manner, whereas the latter shows human characters according to reality (A), (B), and (D) are distortions of this comparison

29 B

The author claims that poets are like painters in that all artists are imitators (A), (C), and (D) are Outside the Scope answer choices, since the author does not praise poetry

to the detriment of other art forms

30 A

(B) is described in the last sentence of paragraph 4; (C) is explained in the beginning of paragraph 4; and (D) is the subject of the 2nd sentence of paragraph 1

31 B

The entire passage is devoted to showing what poets must imitate, how they may create artistic imitations, and why unrealistic characters or situations may be rationalized in the context of these imitations (A) is Outside the Scope; (B) and (D) are FUD

32 D

Paragraph 5 concludes that the impossible can be justified by the poet’s successful fulfillment of artistic requirements (A) is FUD of the 1st sentence of paragraph 1; (B) is Outside the Scope since reader credibility is not addressed by the passage; (C) is Distortion of the final sentence of the passage

Passage VI (Questions 33-40)

Topic: Race

Scope: Problems with the notion of biological races and evaluation of proposal to

abandon racial typologies

Purpose: To explain problems with the idea of race as a biological fact, and to argue that racial categories should be abandoned

In the first paragraph the author introduces the problem and foreshadows her argument (in favor of abandoning racial taxonomies) In the second paragraph she explains that human groups are not races biologically speaking, but rather "social races." In the third paragraph the author argues that similar physical features do not necessarily indicate recent common ancestry The fourth paragraph examines different societies' criteria for determining race, using the examples of the US and Brazil In the fifth paragraph the author argues that race should be abandoned altogether, and cites the problem of racism as further justification

33 B

The third paragraph explains the causes of human physical or phenotypic differences Because this is an "EXCEPT" question, all of the wrong answer choices are supported

by the passage and the right answer choice is not

(A) is wrong: Differences in racial taxonomies are mentioned in paragraphs two and four Paragraph 2 brings up the idea of social races and paragraph four discusses an example of different cultures' racial classification systems (C) is wrong: The third

paragraph discusses the mismatch between ancestry and physical traits (D) is wrong: The author notes in the second paragraph that there are no such thing as human races

in a scientific sense, for the reason mentioned in this answer choice

34 D

The third paragraph presents the example of Brazil's racial classification system in contrast to that of the USA The author notes that races in Brazil are based on

appearance alone and that they can change from day to day Therefore, getting a sun tan, which would alter a person's appearance, could conceivably change the race of someone in Brazil All the other choices are Outside the Scope None of these are mentioned in connection with Brazilian racial categories

35 C

The passage criticizes the notion of race as a biological category A vertical scan of the verbs in the answer choices could have helped students eliminate wrong answers

relatively quickly

Choice A is Outside the Scope No hypothesis is advanced in the passage nor are any recent discoveries identified (B) is too narrow The passage does contrast the