The Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis noxia, is a small green insect discovered in southern Russia around the turn of the century. Agricultural researchers are not quite sure, but they believe the Russian aphid adapted itself to wheat about ten thousand years ago, when the crop was first domesticated by man. What is not in doubt is the insectג€™s destructiveness. Spread by both wind and human transport, the Russian aphid has destroyed wheat fields throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin
America. Until a few years ago, the United States had been free of this pest. But in the spring of 1986, a swarm of Russian aphids crossed the Mexican border and settled a few hundred miles north, in central Texas. From there, it quickly spread to other Western states, destroying wheat fields all along its path. In fact, the level of destruction has been so great over the past five years that entomologists are calling the Russian aphid the greatest threat to American agriculture since the Hessian fly, Phytophaga destructor, was inadvertently brought to the colonies on ships by German mercenary troops during the Revolutionary War. A combination of several factors has made it particularly difficult to deal with the threat posed by this aphid. First, Russian aphids reproduce asexually at a phenomenal rate. This process, known as parthenogenesis, often results in as many as twenty generations of insects in a single year. Although most generations remain in a limited geographic area because they have no wings, a few generations are born with wings, allowing the insect to spread to new areas. Second, because wheat is a crop with a very low profit margin, most American farmers do not spray it with pesticides; it simply is not economical to do so. And since the
Russian aphid has only recently entered the United States, it has no natural enemies among North American insects or animals. As a result, there have been no man-made or natural obstacles to the spread of the Russian aphid in the United States.
Agricultural researchers seeking to control the Russian aphid have looked to its place of origin for answers. In the Soviet Union, the Russian aphid has been kept in check by predators which have evolved alongside it over many thousands of years. One species of wasp seems to be particularly efficient at destroying the aphid. The pregnant females of the species search the Russian aphidג€™s home, the interior of a wheat stalk, sting the aphid into paralysis, and then inject an egg into its body. When the egg hatches the wasp larva feeds off of the aphid, killing it in the process.
The introduction of predators like the wasp, coupled with the breeding of new strains of insect-resistant wheat, may substantially curb the destructiveness of the
Russian aphid in the future. For the time being, however, American farmers are left to their own devices when it comes to protecting their wheat crops.
The author suggests the best way to control the Russian aphid population in the United States is to:
Answer : C
Explanation:
This is an inference question about the authorג€™s perspective on how to control the Russian aphid population in the United States. The last 2 paragraphs of the passage concern control of the aphid population. In the first sentence of the fifth paragraph, the author suggests that the introduction of the aphidג€™s natural predators into the United States holds the possibility of controlling the aphid population in the future. In other words, the author thinks that transplanting the
Russian aphidג€™s natural enemies from the Soviet Union, choice (C), is a logical way of controlling the aphid population in the United States, so (C) is the correct answer to this question. Nowhere in the passage does the author state or suggest that reducing the acreage devoted to the production of wheat, choice (A), would control the aphid population in the United States, so (A) is wrong. Although some people might logically conclude that growing less wheat would lessen the aphid population in the long-run, but the author doesnג€™t suggest this as a logical method of aphid control. The question stem asks for a suggestion of the author. As for spraying large quantities of pesticides on wheat fields, choice (B), the author indicates in the fifth sentence of the third paragraph that, for economic reasons, this is not a reasonable method of aphid control, so choice (B) is wrong. Finally, the author doesnג€™t suggest that sterilizing female aphids is a logical way of controlling the aphid population in the United States, making choice (D) incorrect. In fact, in the first half of the third paragraph, the author makes a point of noting that aphids reproduce asexually at a phenomenal rate, so ג€sterilizing femalesג€ is not logical at all and certainly is not suggested by the author.
The Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis noxia, is a small green insect discovered in southern Russia around the turn of the century. Agricultural researchers are not quite sure, but they believe the Russian aphid adapted itself to wheat about ten thousand years ago, when the crop was first domesticated by man. What is not in doubt is the insectג€™s destructiveness. Spread by both wind and human transport, the Russian aphid has destroyed wheat fields throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin
America. Until a few years ago, the United States had been free of this pest. But in the spring of 1986, a swarm of Russian aphids crossed the Mexican border and settled a few hundred miles north, in central Texas. From there, it quickly spread to other Western states, destroying wheat fields all along its path. In fact, the level of destruction has been so great over the past five years that entomologists are calling the Russian aphid the greatest threat to American agriculture since the Hessian fly, Phytophaga destructor, was inadvertently brought to the colonies on ships by German mercenary troops during the Revolutionary War. A combination of several factors has made it particularly difficult to deal with the threat posed by this aphid. First, Russian aphids reproduce asexually at a phenomenal rate. This process, known as parthenogenesis, often results in as many as twenty generations of insects in a single year. Although most generations remain in a limited geographic area because they have no wings, a few generations are born with wings, allowing the insect to spread to new areas. Second, because wheat is a crop with a very low profit margin, most American farmers do not spray it with pesticides; it simply is not economical to do so. And since the
Russian aphid has only recently entered the United States, it has no natural enemies among North American insects or animals. As a result, there have been no man-made or natural obstacles to the spread of the Russian aphid in the United States.
Agricultural researchers seeking to control the Russian aphid have looked to its place of origin for answers. In the Soviet Union, the Russian aphid has been kept in check by predators which have evolved alongside it over many thousands of years. One species of wasp seems to be particularly efficient at destroying the aphid. The pregnant females of the species search the Russian aphidג€™s home, the interior of a wheat stalk, sting the aphid into paralysis, and then inject an egg into its body. When the egg hatches the wasp larva feeds off of the aphid, killing it in the process.
The introduction of predators like the wasp, coupled with the breeding of new strains of insect-resistant wheat, may substantially curb the destructiveness of the
Russian aphid in the future. For the time being, however, American farmers are left to their own devices when it comes to protecting their wheat crops.
According to the passage, the Russian wheat aphid and the Hessian fly are comparable with respect to:
I. the amount of destruction they have caused.
II. the means by which they reproduce.
III. the ways in which they entered the United States.
Answer : A
Explanation:
This is another detail question in Roman numeral format involving a comparison of the Russian wheat aphid and the Hessian fly. Since these insects are briefly compared in the second paragraph, most likely the information necessary to answer the question will be found there. In the last sentence of the second paragraph, we are told that entomologists consider the Russian aphid so destructive that they have called it the greatest threat to American agriculture since the Hessian fly was brought over by German mercenaries during the Revolutionary War. Based on this, it is certainly reasonable to conclude that Russian aphids and Hessian flies are comparable with respect to the amount of damage they have caused to crops. Option I, therefore, does complete this question stem correctly, and will be part of the answer. The second sentence of the third paragraph states that Russian aphids reproduce asexually, but nowhere are we told by what means the
Hessian fly reproduces, so we have no basis for concluding that Russian aphids and Hessian flies are comparable with respect to the means by which they reproduce, option II. The second sentence of the second paragraph states that a swarm of Russian aphids flew across the United States-Mexican border; in other words, they entered the United States on their own, with humans having nothing to do with their entry into this country. In contrast, the final sentence of the second paragraph clearly states that the Hessian fly was brought to the United States by humans, German mercenary troops, in boats. So, their methods of entry into the
United States arenג€™t comparable, making option III incorrect.
The Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis noxia, is a small green insect discovered in southern Russia around the turn of the century. Agricultural researchers are not quite sure, but they believe the Russian aphid adapted itself to wheat about ten thousand years ago, when the crop was first domesticated by man. What is not in doubt is the insectג€™s destructiveness. Spread by both wind and human transport, the Russian aphid has destroyed wheat fields throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin
America. Until a few years ago, the United States had been free of this pest. But in the spring of 1986, a swarm of Russian aphids crossed the Mexican border and settled a few hundred miles north, in central Texas. From there, it quickly spread to other Western states, destroying wheat fields all along its path. In fact, the level of destruction has been so great over the past five years that entomologists are calling the Russian aphid the greatest threat to American agriculture since the Hessian fly, Phytophaga destructor, was inadvertently brought to the colonies on ships by German mercenary troops during the Revolutionary War. A combination of several factors has made it particularly difficult to deal with the threat posed by this aphid. First, Russian aphids reproduce asexually at a phenomenal rate. This process, known as parthenogenesis, often results in as many as twenty generations of insects in a single year. Although most generations remain in a limited geographic area because they have no wings, a few generations are born with wings, allowing the insect to spread to new areas. Second, because wheat is a crop with a very low profit margin, most American farmers do not spray it with pesticides; it simply is not economical to do so. And since the
Russian aphid has only recently entered the United States, it has no natural enemies among North American insects or animals. As a result, there have been no man-made or natural obstacles to the spread of the Russian aphid in the United States.
Agricultural researchers seeking to control the Russian aphid have looked to its place of origin for answers. In the Soviet Union, the Russian aphid has been kept in check by predators which have evolved alongside it over many thousands of years. One species of wasp seems to be particularly efficient at destroying the aphid. The pregnant females of the species search the Russian aphidג€™s home, the interior of a wheat stalk, sting the aphid into paralysis, and then inject an egg into its body. When the egg hatches the wasp larva feeds off of the aphid, killing it in the process.
The introduction of predators like the wasp, coupled with the breeding of new strains of insect-resistant wheat, may substantially curb the destructiveness of the
Russian aphid in the future. For the time being, however, American farmers are left to their own devices when it comes to protecting their wheat crops.
The author most likely believes American farmers will:
Answer : D
Explanation:
This is an inference question regarding the future course of actions for American farmers. As American farmers are discussed in the third and fifth paragraphs of the passage, it is appropriate to look there for information to answer this question. The first sentence of the fifth paragraph asserts that new insect-resistant strains of wheat may be developed in the future and that these new strains may curb the destructiveness of the Russian aphid. But, the author neither states nor suggests that American farmers will be the individuals responsible for the development of these new strains of wheat, so choice (A) is wrong. Regarding choice (B), the last sentence of the fifth paragraph asserts that, until effective measures for controlling the Russian aphid are developed, American farmers are on their own when it comes to protecting their wheat crops. The tone of this sentence suggests that the author believes that it is unlikely that American farmers can develop their own effective means of coping with this pest, the opposite of what is suggested by choice (B), so (B) is also wrong. The last sentence of the passage also suggests that the author believes American farmers will continue to produce wheat in the future, so choice (C) is wrong. Finally, the tone and content of the last paragraph ג€" where the author states that American farmers will have to cope with the Russian aphid the best they can until methods are found for controlling its destructiveness ג€" suggests that the author believes American farmers will lose a part of their wheat crops to the aphid for the foreseeable future, making choice
(D) the answer.
Millenialism is, generally speaking, the religious belief that salvation and material benefits will be conferred upon a society in the near future as the result of some apocalyptic event. The term derives from the Latin word for 1,000; in early Christian theology, believers held that Christ would return and establish his kingdom on earth for a period of a thousand years.
Millenialist movements, Christian and non-Christian, have arisen at various points throughout history, usually in times of great crisis or social upheaval. In
ג€nativisticג€ millenialist movements, a people threatened with cultural disintegration attempts to earn its salvation by rejecting foreign customs and values and returning to the ג€old ways.ג€ One such movement involving the Ghost Dance cults, named after the ceremonial dance which cult members performed in hope of salvation, flourished in the late 19th century among Indians of the western United States.
By the middle of the 19th century, western expansion and settlement by whites was seriously threatening Native American cultures. Mining, agriculture and ranching encroached on and destroyed many Indian land and food sources. Indian resistance led to a series of wars and massacres, culminating in the U.S.
Governmentג€™s policy of resettlement of Indians onto reservations which constituted a fraction of their former territorial base. Under these dire circumstances, a series of millenialist movements began among western tribes.
The first Ghost Dance cult arose in western Nevada around 1870. A Native American prophet named Wodziwob, a member of a Northern Paiute tribe, received the revelation of an imminent apocalypse which would destroy the white man, restore all dead Indians to life, and return to the Indians their lands, food supplies
(such as the vanishing buffalo), and old way of life. The apocalypse was to be brought about with the help of a ceremonial dance and songs, and by strict adherence to a moral code which, oddly enough, strongly resembled Christian teaching. In the early 1870s, Wodziwobג€™s Ghost Dance cult spread to several tribes in California and Oregon, but soon died out or was absorbed into other cults.
A second Ghost Dance cult, founded in January 1889, evolved as the result of a similar revelation. This time Wovoka ג€" another Northern Paiute Indian, whose father had been a disciple of Wodziwob ג€" received a vision during a solar eclipse in which he died, spoke to God, and was assigned the task of teaching the dance and the millennial message. With white civilization having pushed western tribes ever closer to the brink of cultural disintegration during the previous twenty years, the Ghost Dance movement spread rapidly this time, catching on among tribes from the Canadian border to Texas, and from the Missouri River to the
Sierra Nevadas ג€" an area approximately one-third the size of the continental United States.
Wovokaג€™s Ghost Dance doctrine forbade Indian violence against whites or other Indians; it also involved the wearing of ג€ghost shirts,ג€ which supposedly rendered the wearers invulnerable to the white manג€™s bullets. In 1890, when the Ghost Dance spread to the Sioux Indians, both the ghost shirts and the movement itself were put to the test. Violent resistance to white domination had all but ended among the Sioux by the late 1880s, when government- ordered reductions in the size of their reservations infuriated the Sioux, and made them particularly responsive to the millenialist message of the Ghost Dance. As the Sioux organized themselves in the cult of the dance, an alarmed federal government resorted to armed intervention which ultimately led to the massacre of some 200 Sioux men, women and children at Wounded Knee, South Dakota in December of 1890. The ghost shirts had been worn to no avail, and Wounded Knee marked the end of the second Ghost Dance cult.
The passage implies that the second Ghost Dance cult gained widespread popularity quickly because:
Answer : B
Explanation:
This asks for a reason why the second Ghost Dance cult grew popular so quickly. The second Ghost Dance cult is discussed in paragraphs 4 and 5. In fact, the popularity of the second cult is directly referred to in the second half of paragraph 4. At the top of that paragraph, the author had described how the second cult started when Wovoka received his revelation. In the third sentence of the paragraph, we learn that, in the twenty years since the first Ghost Dance cult, white people had pushed Indians ג€ever closer to the brink of cultural disintegrationג€. And because of this, ג€the Ghost Dance movement spread rapidly this timeג€, quote unquote. Therefore, choice (B) is correct: the second Ghost Dance cult quickly became popular because many Indians felt particularly threatened by white civilization. From the third sentence of the fourth paragraph, which states that white civilization was still pushing western Indian tribes to the brink of cultural disintegration, as well as from the end of the last paragraph, where the governmentג€™s policy of armed intervention is discussed, it can be inferred that the U.S. government continued to suppress Native American cultural practices, and that choice (A) is wrong. Choice (C) is plausible, but unwarranted. The author makes no comparison regarding the amount of personal charisma of each prophet. So thereג€™s no way of knowing which cult leader was more charismatic. And choice (D) is wrong because, according to the passage, both Ghost Dance cults were founded on the basis of spiritual revelations. Therefore, the mere fact that the second was founded on the basis of a spiritual revelation does nothing to explain its relative popularity.
Millenialism is, generally speaking, the religious belief that salvation and material benefits will be conferred upon a society in the near future as the result of some apocalyptic event. The term derives from the Latin word for 1,000; in early Christian theology, believers held that Christ would return and establish his kingdom on earth for a period of a thousand years.
Millenialist movements, Christian and non-Christian, have arisen at various points throughout history, usually in times of great crisis or social upheaval. In
ג€nativisticג€ millenialist movements, a people threatened with cultural disintegration attempts to earn its salvation by rejecting foreign customs and values and returning to the ג€old waysג€. One such movement involving the Ghost Dance cults, named after the ceremonial dance which cult members performed in hope of salvation, flourished in the late 19th century among Indians of the western United States.
By the middle of the 19th century, western expansion and settlement by whites was seriously threatening Native American cultures. Mining, agriculture and ranching encroached on and destroyed many Indian land and food sources. Indian resistance led to a series of wars and massacres, culminating in the U.S.
Governmentג€™s policy of resettlement of Indians onto reservations which constituted a fraction of their former territorial base. Under these dire circumstances, a series of millenialist movements began among western tribes.
The first Ghost Dance cult arose in western Nevada around 1870. A Native American prophet named Wodziwob, a member of a Northern Paiute tribe, received the revelation of an imminent apocalypse which would destroy the white man, restore all dead Indians to life, and return to the Indians their lands, food supplies
(such as the vanishing buffalo), and old way of life. The apocalypse was to be brought about with the help of a ceremonial dance and songs, and by strict adherence to a moral code which, oddly enough, strongly resembled Christian teaching. In the early 1870s, Wodziwobג€™s Ghost Dance cult spread to several tribes in California and Oregon, but soon died out or was absorbed into other cults.
A second Ghost Dance cult, founded in January 1889, evolved as the result of a similar revelation. This time Wovoka ג€" another Northern Paiute Indian, whose father had been a disciple of Wodziwob ג€" received a vision during a solar eclipse in which he died, spoke to God, and was assigned the task of teaching the dance and the millennial message. With white civilization having pushed western tribes ever closer to the brink of cultural disintegration during the previous twenty years, the Ghost Dance movement spread rapidly this time, catching on among tribes from the Canadian border to Texas, and from the Missouri River to the
Sierra Nevadas ג€" an area approximately one-third the size of the continental United States.
Wovokaג€™s Ghost Dance doctrine forbade Indian violence against whites or other Indians; it also involved the wearing of ג€ghost shirts,ג€ which supposedly rendered the wearers invulnerable to the white manג€™s bullets. In 1890, when the Ghost Dance spread to the Sioux Indians, both the ghost shirts and the movement itself were put to the test. Violent resistance to white domination had all but ended among the Sioux by the late 1880s, when government- ordered reductions in the size of their reservations infuriated the Sioux, and made them particularly responsive to the millenialist message of the Ghost Dance. As the Sioux organized themselves in the cult of the dance, an alarmed federal government resorted to armed intervention which ultimately led to the massacre of some 200 Sioux men, women and children at Wounded Knee, South Dakota in December of 1890. The ghost shirts had been worn to no avail, and Wounded Knee marked the end of the second Ghost Dance cult.
The passage implies that a paradoxical element of the Ghost Dance cults was their:
Answer : B
Explanation:
This asks what was paradoxical about the Ghost Dance cults. A paradox is something that seems to be contradictory and yet is true. The correct answer, choice
(B), can be found paragraph 3. In explaining the doctrine of the first Ghost Dance cult, the author notes that, although the point of the dance was to destroy the white man and foster a return to the old ways, believers were instructed to follow a strict code of morality that, ג€oddly enough, strongly resembled Christian teaching.ג€ The paradox of the Ghost Dance was that it borrowed the moral teachings of the people it hoped to destroy, so choice (B) is our answer. There is nothing paradoxical about choice (A). As defined in the first paragraph, a nativistic millenialist movement like the Ghost Dance is designed to unite a people threatened with cultural disintegration. Choice (C) describes an irrational element of the Ghost Dance religion, not a paradoxical one. Practically all religions are based on one or more articles of faith, and the Indiansג€™ belief that ג€ghost shirtsג€ would protect them in combat was a straightforward, if doomed, element of their cult doctrine. Choice (D) is wrong because thereג€™s nothing odd or contradictory in combining a millenialist message with a desire to revive the ג€old waysג€. As the author says in paragraph 1, the desire to revive old ways is a defining characteristic of nativistic millenialist movements.
Millenialism is, generally speaking, the religious belief that salvation and material benefits will be conferred upon a society in the near future as the result of some apocalyptic event. The term derives from the Latin word for 1,000; in early Christian theology, believers held that Christ would return and establish his kingdom on earth for a period of a thousand years.
Millenialist movements, Christian and non-Christian, have arisen at various points throughout history, usually in times of great crisis or social upheaval. In
ג€nativisticג€ millenialist movements, a people threatened with cultural disintegration attempts to earn its salvation by rejecting foreign customs and values and returning to the ג€old ways.ג€ One such movement involving the Ghost Dance cults, named after the ceremonial dance which cult members performed in hope of salvation, flourished in the late 19th century among Indians of the western United States.
By the middle of the 19th century, western expansion and settlement by whites was seriously threatening Native American cultures. Mining, agriculture and ranching encroached on and destroyed many Indian land and food sources. Indian resistance led to a series of wars and massacres, culminating in the U.S.
Governmentג€™s policy of resettlement of Indians onto reservations which constituted a fraction of their former territorial base. Under these dire circumstances, a series of millenialist movements began among western tribes.
The first Ghost Dance cult arose in western Nevada around 1870. A Native American prophet named Wodziwob, a member of a Northern Paiute tribe, received the revelation of an imminent apocalypse which would destroy the white man, restore all dead Indians to life, and return to the Indians their lands, food supplies
(such as the vanishing buffalo), and old way of life. The apocalypse was to be brought about with the help of a ceremonial dance and songs, and by strict adherence to a moral code which, oddly enough, strongly resembled Christian teaching. In the early 1870s, Wodziwobג€™s Ghost Dance cult spread to several tribes in California and Oregon, but soon died out or was absorbed into other cults.
A second Ghost Dance cult, founded in January 1889, evolved as the result of a similar revelation. This time Wovoka ג€" another Northern Paiute Indian, whose father had been a disciple of Wodziwob ג€" received a vision during a solar eclipse in which he died, spoke to God, and was assigned the task of teaching the dance and the millennial message. With white civilization having pushed western tribes ever closer to the brink of cultural disintegration during the previous twenty years, the Ghost Dance movement spread rapidly this time, catching on among tribes from the Canadian border to Texas, and from the Missouri River to the
Sierra Nevadas ג€" an area approximately one-third the size of the continental United States.
Wovokaג€™s Ghost Dance doctrine forbade Indian violence against whites or other Indians; it also involved the wearing of ג€ghost shirts,ג€ which supposedly rendered the wearers invulnerable to the white manג€™s bullets. In 1890, when the Ghost Dance spread to the Sioux Indians, both the ghost shirts and the movement itself were put to the test. Violent resistance to white domination had all but ended among the Sioux by the late 1880s, when government- ordered reductions in the size of their reservations infuriated the Sioux, and made them particularly responsive to the millenialist message of the Ghost Dance. As the Sioux organized themselves in the cult of the dance, an alarmed federal government resorted to armed intervention which ultimately led to the massacre of some 200 Sioux men, women and children at Wounded Knee, South Dakota in December of 1890. The ghost shirts had been worn to no avail, and Wounded Knee marked the end of the second Ghost Dance cult.
All of the following characteristics are described in the passage as common to all millenialist movements EXCEPT:
Answer : D
Explanation:
This is in the ג€all of the following EXCEPTג€ format. The correct answer will NOT be a characteristic ascribed to millenialist movements. The question stemג€™s key phrase, ג€millenialist movements,ג€ echoes back to the first paragraph. There we learn that followers of millenialist movements hope for salvation, or to be saved, which eliminates choice (A), because it IS a characteristic of such movements. And there we also learn that followers of such movements believe in a fast- approaching apocalyptic event, which eliminates choice (B). In the fourth sentence of paragraph 1, the author says that members of nativistic millenialist movements attempt to stave off cultural disintegration by returning to the ג€old ways;ג€ another way of saying this is that they attempt to preserve their cultural integrity, which eliminates choice (C). Choice (D) is the correct answer. And indeed, though the word ג€millenialistג€ has Christian origins, the author never says that all millenialist movements adhere to Christian doctrines. Choice (D) is slightly confusing since the author notes that an odd element of the Ghost Dance cults was the resemblance of their moral code to Christian teachings. But the Ghost Dance cults are only one example of millenialist movements; presumably there have been others which had nothing to do with Christian doctrine. In fact, the author says in the third sentence of paragraph 1 that ג€millenialist movements, Christian and non-Christian,ג€ have appeared throughout history, so choice (D) is the best answer.
For the last two decades many earth scientists have supported the notion that the Mediterranean was once a huge, dry desert, lying 3,000 meters below sea level.
This ג€death valleyג€ was thought to have existed at the end of Miocene time, about 6 to 5.5 million years agoג€¦
ג€¦From a geological point of view, the Mediterranean is a tectonically mobile land-enclosed depression ג€" small (about 3,000,000 square kilometers) in comparison to the major world oceansג€¦Immediately obvious on all charts is the highly variable topography and relief of both the seafloor and adjacent borderland. The coastline is highly irregular and continental shelves, though generally narrow, are well developed off the major river deltas (Nile, Rhone, Po, and Ebro). Moreover, the deep-sea basins and trenches have distinctive relief, with basin plains ranging in depth from less than 1,000 meters to more than 4,000ג€¦Observation that rocks dredged offshore are similar to those on land raised a fundamental concept ג€" the key to understanding Mediterranean history lies in the adjacent emerged land masses, and vice-versaג€¦
ג€¦Early paleographic reconstructions showed that the once-open communication with the Atlantic deteriorated during the upper Miocene. Water-mass exchange continued for a while in the Rif Strait, but then ceased completely prior to the beginning of the Plioceneג€¦
ג€¦High relief near what is now the Strait of Gibraltar served as a barrier to the exchange of waters with the Atlantic. Exposed to a hot and dry climate, water evaporated and the then-dry basin elicited comparison with a gigantic Death Valleyג€¦Microfossil studies suggested that the depth of the Mediterranean basin at these times had been ג€deep.ג€ Estimates suggested a dry seafloor as far as 2,000 meters below ocean levelג€¦ As a response to suddenly lowered sea level, rivers feeding the Mediterranean and canyons on the now-dry seafloor began a geologically dramatic phase of erosion. Deep, Grand Canyon-like gorges of the Nile and
Rhone rivers, presently buried on land, were apparently cut during a great drawdown of water ג€" when the Mediterranean floor lay exposed 1,000 meters or more below its present levelג€¦The sudden flooding through a gigantic waterfall at Gibraltar drowned the exposed basin floor. These falls would have been 1,000 times bigger than Niagara Fallsג€¦This flooding event is recorded by the Miocene Pliocene boundary, a time when open marine faunal assemblages were suddenly reintroduced from the Atlanticג€¦
ג€¦Geological theories usually fall at a glacial pace into a sea of controversy, and this one is no exception. Today ג€" charging that proof for the theory is lacking ג€" many scientists believe that the Med always contained saltwater, with only the depth of the seafloor and the water being in questionג€¦ Some of the tenets on which the theory was formulated are, if not defective, very seriously in question. To interpret their findings, a respectable number of geologists studying the surrounding emerged borderland as well as subsea sections indicate that alternative, more comprehensive concepts must be envisionedג€¦
ג€¦It is not realistic to envision the Mediterranean seafloor of about 5 million years ago as a desert at 3,000 meters below present ocean level. Several years agoג€¦ the Mediterranean [was compared] to a complex picture-puzzle that comprises numerous intricate pieces, many of which are already in place. A general image is emerging, although gaps in some areas of the picture remain fuzzy and indistinct.
According to the author, which of the following is the most likely theory concerning the formation of the Mediterranean?
Answer : D
Explanation:
The final paragraph of the passage indicates that the author believes theories concerning the formation of the Mediterranean are still developing and that much is not known.
Choice A is incorrect because the author states explicitly that ג€it is not realistic to envision the Mediterranean... as a desert at 3,000 meters below present ocean level.ג€
Again, the author does not completely support the ג€Death Valleyג€ theory. Flooding of the Mediterranean by a waterfall at Gibraltar is part of this theory. Thus, choice B is incorrect.
Choice C is never mentioned in the passage. There is no evidence that the author would support this theory.
Millenialism is, generally speaking, the religious belief that salvation and material benefits will be conferred upon a society in the near future as the result of some apocalyptic event. The term derives from the Latin word for 1,000; in early Christian theology, believers held that Christ would return and establish his kingdom on earth for a period of a thousand years.
Millenialist movements, Christian and non-Christian, have arisen at various points throughout history, usually in times of great crisis or social upheaval. In
ג€nativisticג€ millenialist movements, a people threatened with cultural disintegration attempts to earn its salvation by rejecting foreign customs and values and returning to the ג€old ways.ג€ One such movement involving the Ghost Dance cults, named after the ceremonial dance which cult members performed in hope of salvation, flourished in the late 19th century among Indians of the western United States.
By the middle of the 19th century, western expansion and settlement by whites was seriously threatening Native American cultures. Mining, agriculture and ranching encroached on and destroyed many Indian land and food sources. Indian resistance led to a series of wars and massacres, culminating in the U.S.
Governmentג€™s policy of resettlement of Indians onto reservations which constituted a fraction of their former territorial base. Under these dire circumstances, a series of millenialist movements began among western tribes.
The first Ghost Dance cult arose in western Nevada around 1870. A Native American prophet named Wodziwob, a member of a Northern Paiute tribe, received the revelation of an imminent apocalypse which would destroy the white man, restore all dead Indians to life, and return to the Indians their lands, food supplies
(such as the vanishing buffalo), and old way of life. The apocalypse was to be brought about with the help of a ceremonial dance and songs, and by strict adherence to a moral code which, oddly enough, strongly resembled Christian teaching. In the early 1870s, Wodziwobג€™s Ghost Dance cult spread to several tribes in California and Oregon, but soon died out or was absorbed into other cults.
A second Ghost Dance cult, founded in January 1889, evolved as the result of a similar revelation. This time Wovoka ג€" another Northern Paiute Indian, whose father had been a disciple of Wodziwob ג€" received a vision during a solar eclipse in which he died, spoke to God, and was assigned the task of teaching the dance and the millennial message. With white civilization having pushed western tribes ever closer to the brink of cultural disintegration during the previous twenty years, the Ghost Dance movement spread rapidly this time, catching on among tribes from the Canadian border to Texas, and from the Missouri River to the
Sierra Nevadas ג€" an area approximately one-third the size of the continental United States.
Wovokaג€™s Ghost Dance doctrine forbade Indian violence against whites or other Indians; it also involved the wearing of ג€ghost shirts,ג€ which supposedly rendered the wearers invulnerable to the white manג€™s bullets. In 1890, when the Ghost Dance spread to the Sioux Indians, both the ghost shirts and the movement itself were put to the test. Violent resistance to white domination had all but ended among the Sioux by the late 1880s, when government- ordered reductions in the size of their reservations infuriated the Sioux, and made them particularly responsive to the millenialist message of the Ghost Dance. As the Sioux organized themselves in the cult of the dance, an alarmed federal government resorted to armed intervention which ultimately led to the massacre of some 200 Sioux men, women and children at Wounded Knee, South Dakota in December of 1890. The ghost shirts had been worn to no avail, and Wounded Knee marked the end of the second Ghost Dance cult.
Which of the following was NOT part of the spiritual revelation described in the fourth paragraph of the passage?
Answer : A
Explanation:
This requires the identification of the choice that was not part of the spiritual revelation described in paragraph 4. This revelation is the one that was granted to
Wodziwob, who started the first Ghost Dance cult in or around 1870. The author states in the second sentence of the third paragraph that Wodziwob was told that an imminent apocalypse would destroy the white man. The apocalypse would also restore all dead Indians to life, which eliminates of choice (C). It would replenish food supplies like the vanishing buffalo, choice (D), and bring back the old Indian way of life, which restates choice (B).Choice (A), by process of elimination, is the correct answer. Nowhere does the author mention unity of all Indian tribes as part of the salvation envisioned by Wodziwob.
Millenialism is, generally speaking, the religious belief that salvation and material benefits will be conferred upon a society in the near future as the result of some apocalyptic event. The term derives from the Latin word for 1,000; in early Christian theology, believers held that Christ would return and establish his kingdom on earth for a period of a thousand years.
Millenialist movements, Christian and non-Christian, have arisen at various points throughout history, usually in times of great crisis or social upheaval. In
ג€nativisticג€ millenialist movements, a people threatened with cultural disintegration attempts to earn its salvation by rejecting foreign customs and values and returning to the ג€old ways.ג€ One such movement involving the Ghost Dance cults, named after the ceremonial dance which cult members performed in hope of salvation, flourished in the late 19th century among Indians of the western United States.
By the middle of the 19th century, western expansion and settlement by whites was seriously threatening Native American cultures. Mining, agriculture and ranching encroached on and destroyed many Indian land and food sources. Indian resistance led to a series of wars and massacres, culminating in the U.S.
Governmentג€™s policy of resettlement of Indians onto reservations which constituted a fraction of their former territorial base. Under these dire circumstances, a series of millenialist movements began among western tribes.
The first Ghost Dance cult arose in western Nevada around 1870. A Native American prophet named Wodziwob, a member of a Northern Paiute tribe, received the revelation of an imminent apocalypse which would destroy the white man, restore all dead Indians to life, and return to the Indians their lands, food supplies
(such as the vanishing buffalo), and old way of life. The apocalypse was to be brought about with the help of a ceremonial dance and songs, and by strict adherence to a moral code which, oddly enough, strongly resembled Christian teaching. In the early 1870s, Wodziwobג€™s Ghost Dance cult spread to several tribes in California and Oregon, but soon died out or was absorbed into other cults.
A second Ghost Dance cult, founded in January 1889, evolved as the result of a similar revelation. This time Wovoka ג€" another Northern Paiute Indian, whose father had been a disciple of Wodziwob ג€" received a vision during a solar eclipse in which he died, spoke to God, and was assigned the task of teaching the dance and the millennial message. With white civilization having pushed western tribes ever closer to the brink of cultural disintegration during the previous twenty years, the Ghost Dance movement spread rapidly this time, catching on among tribes from the Canadian border to Texas, and from the Missouri River to the
Sierra Nevadas ג€" an area approximately one-third the size of the continental United States.
Wovokaג€™s Ghost Dance doctrine forbade Indian violence against whites or other Indians; it also involved the wearing of ג€ghost shirts,ג€ which supposedly rendered the wearers invulnerable to the white manג€™s bullets. In 1890, when the Ghost Dance spread to the Sioux Indians, both the ghost shirts and the movement itself were put to the test. Violent resistance to white domination had all but ended among the Sioux by the late 1880s, when government- ordered reductions in the size of their reservations infuriated the Sioux, and made them particularly responsive to the millenialist message of the Ghost Dance. As the Sioux organized themselves in the cult of the dance, an alarmed federal government resorted to armed intervention which ultimately led to the massacre of some 200 Sioux men, women and children at Wounded Knee, South Dakota in December of 1890. The ghost shirts had been worn to no avail, and Wounded Knee marked the end of the second Ghost Dance cult.
Which of the following tribes would probably NOT have taken part in the Ghost Dance cults?
Answer : A
Explanation:
This simply requires application of knowledge from the passage. The question asks for the tribe that would probably NOT have taken part in either of the Ghost
Dance cults. The tribes mentioned in the answer choices are not mentioned in the passage, so determining the correct answer depends on realizing that the boundaries limiting Indian participation in each of the Ghost Dance cults are described at the end of paragraphs 3 and 4. In paragraph 3, the author says that the first cult took hold in California and Oregon. In describing the second, more widespread cult, the author says that it was adopted by tribes ג€from the Canadian border to Texas, and from the Missouri River to the Sierra Nevadasג€. In a sense this is a geography question, and the right answer will name a tribe that was somewhere outside the boundaries described in the passage. Choices (B), (C), and (D) all fall within these boundaries. The Potawatomi in choice (A), however, lived in Illinois, which is too far east to be within the environs of the Ghost Dance cults.
Millenialism is, generally speaking, the religious belief that salvation and material benefits will be conferred upon a society in the near future as the result of some apocalyptic event. The term derives from the Latin word for 1,000; in early Christian theology, believers held that Christ would return and establish his kingdom on earth for a period of a thousand years.
Millenialist movements, Christian and non-Christian, have arisen at various points throughout history, usually in times of great crisis or social upheaval. In
ג€nativisticג€ millenialist movements, a people threatened with cultural disintegration attempts to earn its salvation by rejecting foreign customs and values and returning to the ג€old ways.ג€ One such movement involving the Ghost Dance cults, named after the ceremonial dance which cult members performed in hope of salvation, flourished in the late 19th century among Indians of the western United States.
By the middle of the 19th century, western expansion and settlement by whites was seriously threatening Native American cultures. Mining, agriculture and ranching encroached on and destroyed many Indian land and food sources. Indian resistance led to a series of wars and massacres, culminating in the U.S.
Governmentג€™s policy of resettlement of Indians onto reservations which constituted a fraction of their former territorial base. Under these dire circumstances, a series of millenialist movements began among western tribes.
The first Ghost Dance cult arose in western Nevada around 1870. A Native American prophet named Wodziwob, a member of a Northern Paiute tribe, received the revelation of an imminent apocalypse which would destroy the white man, restore all dead Indians to life, and return to the Indians their lands, food supplies
(such as the vanishing buffalo), and old way of life. The apocalypse was to be brought about with the help of a ceremonial dance and songs, and by strict adherence to a moral code which, oddly enough, strongly resembled Christian teaching. In the early 1870s, Wodziwobג€™s Ghost Dance cult spread to several tribes in California and Oregon, but soon died out or was absorbed into other cults.
A second Ghost Dance cult, founded in January 1889, evolved as the result of a similar revelation. This time Wovoka ג€" another Northern Paiute Indian, whose father had been a disciple of Wodziwob ג€" received a vision during a solar eclipse in which he died, spoke to God, and was assigned the task of teaching the dance and the millennial message. With white civilization having pushed western tribes ever closer to the brink of cultural disintegration during the previous twenty years, the Ghost Dance movement spread rapidly this time, catching on among tribes from the Canadian border to Texas, and from the Missouri River to the
Sierra Nevadas ג€" an area approximately one-third the size of the continental United States.
Wovokaג€™s Ghost Dance doctrine forbade Indian violence against whites or other Indians; it also involved the wearing of ג€ghost shirts,ג€ which supposedly rendered the wearers invulnerable to the white manג€™s bullets. In 1890, when the Ghost Dance spread to the Sioux Indians, both the ghost shirts and the movement itself were put to the test. Violent resistance to white domination had all but ended among the Sioux by the late 1880s, when government- ordered reductions in the size of their reservations infuriated the Sioux, and made them particularly responsive to the millenialist message of the Ghost Dance. As the Sioux organized themselves in the cult of the dance, an alarmed federal government resorted to armed intervention which ultimately led to the massacre of some 200 Sioux men, women and children at Wounded Knee, South Dakota in December of 1890. The ghost shirts had been worn to no avail, and Wounded Knee marked the end of the second Ghost Dance cult.
The author answers all of the following questions EXCEPT:
Answer : D
Explanation:
This seeks the answer choice that asks a question which the author didnג€™t address in the passage. Quickly scan the choices, looking for one that leaps out immediately. If this dies not reveal the correct answer, carefully check the choices one by one. Choice (A) asks about the magical powers of the ג€ghost shirts.ג€
This refers back to the first sentence of paragraph 5, where the author says that the shirts ג€supposedly rendered the wearers invulnerable to the white manג€™s bullets.ג€ Thus, choice (A) will not be the answer to question 43. Choice (B) asks if there was a connection between the prophets of the two Ghost Dance cults.
This is answered in the second sentence of paragraph 4, where the author states that the father of the second prophet, Wovoka, ג€had been a disciple of
Wodziwob,ג€ prophet of the first cult. There was a connection, so choice (B) is also eliminated. Choice (C) inquires whether the passage describes the difference between ג€nativisticג€ and other millenialist movements. That question is answered in the third and fourth sentences of the first paragraph, where the author says that millenialist movements are brought on by crises and social upheavals, while nativistic millenialist movements arise out of the specific threat of cultural disintegration. In addition, believers in nativistic millenialist movements are said to have a specific recipe, as it were, for being saved: they try to earn salvation by
ג€rejecting foreign customsג€ and ג€returning to the ג€˜old ways.ג€™ג€ No such plan of attack is mentioned for non-nativistic millenialist movements, so choice (C) is eliminated, and choice (D) is left as the correct answer.And indeed, the author never says why the first Ghost Dance cult died out. He only notes, at the very end of the third paragraph, that it ג€soon died out or was absorbed into other cults,ג€ without explanation.
Our sense of smell is arguably the most powerful of our five senses, but it also the most elusive. It plays a vital yet mysterious role in our lives. Olfaction is rooted in the same part of the brain that regulates such essential functions as body metabolism, reaction to stress, and appetite. But smell relates to more than physiological function: its sensations are intimately tied to memory, emotion, and sexual desire. Smell seems to lie somewhere beyond the realm of conscious thought, where, intertwined with emotion and experience, it shapes both our conscious and unconscious lives.
The peculiar intimacy of this sense may be related to certain anatomical features. Smell reaches the brain more directly than do sensations of touch, sight, or sound. When we inhale a particular odor, air containing volatile odiferous molecules is warmed and humidified as it flows over specialized bones in the nose called turbinates. As odor molecules land on the olfactory nerves, these nerves fire a message to the brain. Thus olfactory neurons render a direct path between the stimulus provided by the outside environment and the brain, allowing us to rapidly perceive odors ranging from alluring fragrances to noisome fumes.
Certain scents, such as jasmine, are almost universally appealing, while others, like hydrogen sulfide (which emits a stench reminiscent of rotten eggs), are usually considered repellent, but most odors evoke different reactions from person to person, sometimes triggering strong emotional states or resurrecting seemingly forgotten memories. Scientists surmise that the reason why we have highly personal associations with smells is related to the proximity of the olfactory and emotional centers of our brain. Although the precise connection between emotion and olfaction remains a mystery, it is clear that emotion, memory, and smell are all rooted in a part of the brain called the limbic lobe.
Even though we are not always conscious of the presence of odors, and are often unable to either articulate or remember their unique characteristics, our brains always register their existence. In fact, such a large amount of human brain tissue is devoted to smell that scientists surmise the role of this sense must be profound. Moreover, neurobiological research suggests that smell must have an important function because olfactory neurons can regenerate themselves, unlike most other nerve cells. The importance of this sense is further supported by the fact that animals experimentally denied the olfactory sense do not develop full and normal brain function.
The significance of olfaction is much clearer in animals than in human beings. Animal behavior is strongly influenced by pheromones, which are odors that induce psychological or behavioral changes and often provide a means of communicating within a species. These chemical messages, often a complex blend of compounds, are of vital importance to the insect world. Honeybees, for example, organize their societies through odor: the queen bee exudes an odor that both inhibits worker bees from laying eggs and draws drones to her when she is ready to mate. Mammals are also guided by their sense of smell. Through odors emitted by urine and scent glands, many animals maintain their territories, identify one another, signal alarm, and attract mates.
Although our olfactory acuity canג€™t rival that of other animal species, human beings are also guided by smell. Before the advent of sophisticated laboratory techniques, physicians depended on their noses to help diagnose illness. A century ago, it was common medical knowledge that certain bacterial infections carry the musty odor of wine, that typhoid smells like baking bread, and that yellow fever smells like meat. While medical science has moved away from such subjective diagnostic methods, in everyday life we continue to rely on our sense of small, knowingly or not, to guide us.
The author answers all of the following questions EXCEPT:
Answer : C
Explanation:
This seeks the one answer choice that canג€™t be explained by the location of the olfactory and emotional centers of the brain. Unless one answer choice clearly stands out as correct, the best way to handle such a question is to assess the answer choices one by one. Choice (A) suggests that the location of the olfactory and emotional centers of the brain cannot explain why smells can evoke distant memories. That is not the case at all ג€" the third and fourth sentences of the third paragraph say that scientists surmise that the reason smells often evoke memories is because emotion, memory, and olfaction are all rooted in the brainג€™s limbic lobe. So choice (A) is not correct. Choice (B) mentions the fact that odors elicit different reactions from person to person. This is also explained by the location of the olfactory and emotional centers, and this point is detailed in the second and third sentences of paragraph three. Choice (C) questions whether the fact that a substantial part of the brain is devoted to smell can be explained by the location of olfaction and emotion. The second sentence of the fourth paragraph mentions that a large amount of brain tissue is in fact devoted to smell. But the author does not relate this to the location of the sense of smell and emotion. The author doesnג€™t suggest that we can explain the large amount of brain tissue by its location, so (C) seems correct. Choice (D) says that the location of the olfactory and emotional centers of the brain helps explain which functions are rooted in the limbic lobe. The last sentence of the third paragraph does indeed say that the emotions and smell are indeed rooted in the limbic lobe, so (D) is true. and the answer is choice (C).
Our sense of smell is arguably the most powerful of our five senses, but it also the most elusive. It plays a vital yet mysterious role in our lives. Olfaction is rooted in the same part of the brain that regulates such essential functions as body metabolism, reaction to stress, and appetite. But smell relates to more than physiological function: its sensations are intimately tied to memory, emotion, and sexual desire. Smell seems to lie somewhere beyond the realm of conscious thought, where, intertwined with emotion and experience, it shapes both our conscious and unconscious lives.
The peculiar intimacy of this sense may be related to certain anatomical features. Smell reaches the brain more directly than do sensations of touch, sight, or sound. When we inhale a particular odor, air containing volatile odiferous molecules is warmed and humidified as it flows over specialized bones in the nose called turbinates. As odor molecules land on the olfactory nerves, these nerves fire a message to the brain. Thus olfactory neurons render a direct path between the stimulus provided by the outside environment and the brain, allowing us to rapidly perceive odors ranging from alluring fragrances to noisome fumes.
Certain scents, such as jasmine, are almost universally appealing, while others, like hydrogen sulfide (which emits a stench reminiscent of rotten eggs), are usually considered repellent, but most odors evoke different reactions from person to person, sometimes triggering strong emotional states or resurrecting seemingly forgotten memories. Scientists surmise that the reason why we have highly personal associations with smells is related to the proximity of the olfactory and emotional centers of our brain. Although the precise connection between emotion and olfaction remains a mystery, it is clear that emotion, memory, and smell are all rooted in a part of the brain called the limbic lobe.
Even though we are not always conscious of the presence of odors, and are often unable to either articulate or remember their unique characteristics, our brains always register their existence. In fact, such a large amount of human brain tissue is devoted to smell that scientists surmise the role of this sense must be profound. Moreover, neurobiological research suggests that smell must have an important function because olfactory neurons can regenerate themselves, unlike most other nerve cells. The importance of this sense is further supported by the fact that animals experimentally denied the olfactory sense do not develop full and normal brain function.
The significance of olfaction is much clearer in animals than in human beings. Animal behavior is strongly influenced by pheromones, which are odors that induce psychological or behavioral changes and often provide a means of communicating within a species. These chemical messages, often a complex blend of compounds, are of vital importance to the insect world. Honeybees, for example, organize their societies through odor: the queen bee exudes an odor that both inhibits worker bees from laying eggs and draws drones to her when she is ready to mate. Mammals are also guided by their sense of smell. Through odors emitted by urine and scent glands, many animals maintain their territories, identify one another, signal alarm, and attract mates.
Although our olfactory acuity canג€™t rival that of other animal species, human beings are also guided by smell. Before the advent of sophisticated laboratory techniques, physicians depended on their noses to help diagnose illness. A century ago, it was common medical knowledge that certain bacterial infections carry the musty odor of wine, that typhoid smells like baking bread, and that yellow fever smells like meat. While medical science has moved away from such subjective diagnostic methods, in everyday life we continue to rely on our sense of small, knowingly or not, to guide us.
The authorג€™s central concern in this passage is to:
Answer : A
Explanation:
This inquires about the primary purpose of the passage. This passage can be characterized as a description of the physiological and emotional aspects of our sense of smell. Considering this, the primary purpose of the passage is best described by answer choice (A) ג€" to discuss both the physiological and emotional aspects of olfaction. The main idea is strongly implied throughout the first paragraph of the passage. Choice (B) says that the primary purpose of the passage is to explain why the sense of smell is more important than the other senses. This is incorrect because although the author emphasizes that smell is an important sense in many ways, the author never says or implies that itג€™s oneג€™s important sense. The only comparison made between smell and the other senses is in the second sentence of the second paragraph, which states that smell reaches the brain more directly than do sensations of touch, sight, or sound. It cannot be inferred from this information that smell is more important than touch, sight, or sound, so (B) is wrong. Choice (C) suggests that the main purpose of the passage is to detail the biological mechanisms by which smells trigger long-forgotten memories. Even though the third paragraph mentions the fact that memory and olfaction are somehow related, the author says that the precise connections between emotion and olfaction remain a mystery. This answer choice, however, claims that the passage details the biological mechanisms by which smells trigger memories. In doing so this answer choice plays on a detail, and exaggerates it to the point of falsity. Therefore, (C) is also wrong. Choice (D) states that the point of the passage is to defend the view that human emotion is rooted in anatomical processes. This passage does not advance any particular point of view ג€" the author merely informs us about the mysteries of smell. Even though the author suggests that the ties between emotion and smell are rooted in some obscure anatomical processes, the author never goes so far as to ג€defend the viewג€ or even argue more mildly that all emotion stems from physical process. You canג€™t infer any such view, so (D) is wrong.
Our sense of smell is arguably the most powerful of our five senses, but it also the most elusive. It plays a vital yet mysterious role in our lives. Olfaction is rooted in the same part of the brain that regulates such essential functions as body metabolism, reaction to stress, and appetite. But smell relates to more than physiological function: its sensations are intimately tied to memory, emotion, and sexual desire. Smell seems to lie somewhere beyond the realm of conscious thought, where, intertwined with emotion and experience, it shapes both our conscious and unconscious lives.
The peculiar intimacy of this sense may be related to certain anatomical features. Smell reaches the brain more directly than do sensations of touch, sight, or sound. When we inhale a particular odor, air containing volatile odiferous molecules is warmed and humidified as it flows over specialized bones in the nose called turbinates. As odor molecules land on the olfactory nerves, these nerves fire a message to the brain. Thus olfactory neurons render a direct path between the stimulus provided by the outside environment and the brain, allowing us to rapidly perceive odors ranging from alluring fragrances to noisome fumes.
Certain scents, such as jasmine, are almost universally appealing, while others, like hydrogen sulfide (which emits a stench reminiscent of rotten eggs), are usually considered repellent, but most odors evoke different reactions from person to person, sometimes triggering strong emotional states or resurrecting seemingly forgotten memories. Scientists surmise that the reason why we have highly personal associations with smells is related to the proximity of the olfactory and emotional centers of our brain. Although the precise connection between emotion and olfaction remains a mystery, it is clear that emotion, memory, and smell are all rooted in a part of the brain called the limbic lobe.
Even though we are not always conscious of the presence of odors, and are often unable to either articulate or remember their unique characteristics, our brains always register their existence. In fact, such a large amount of human brain tissue is devoted to smell that scientists surmise the role of this sense must be profound. Moreover, neurobiological research suggests that smell must have an important function because olfactory neurons can regenerate themselves, unlike most other nerve cells. The importance of this sense is further supported by the fact that animals experimentally denied the olfactory sense do not develop full and normal brain function.
The significance of olfaction is much clearer in animals than in human beings. Animal behavior is strongly influenced by pheromones, which are odors that induce psychological or behavioral changes and often provide a means of communicating within a species. These chemical messages, often a complex blend of compounds, are of vital importance to the insect world. Honeybees, for example, organize their societies through odor: the queen bee exudes an odor that both inhibits worker bees from laying eggs and draws drones to her when she is ready to mate. Mammals are also guided by their sense of smell. Through odors emitted by urine and scent glands, many animals maintain their territories, identify one another, signal alarm, and attract mates.
Although our olfactory acuity canג€™t rival that of other animal species, human beings are also guided by smell. Before the advent of sophisticated laboratory techniques, physicians depended on their noses to help diagnose illness. A century ago, it was common medical knowledge that certain bacterial infections carry the musty odor of wine, that typhoid smells like baking bread, and that yellow fever smells like meat. While medical science has moved away from such subjective diagnostic methods, in everyday life we continue to rely on our sense of small, knowingly or not, to guide us.
The passage implies that physicians no longer make diagnoses based on odors because:
Answer : D
Explanation:
This asks why physicians no longer make diagnoses based on odors. The fact that doctors used to use their noses to sniff out disease is discussed in the last paragraph of the passage. In the very last sentence of this paragraph, the author says that medical science has moved away from such subjective diagnostic methods. From this point, it can be inferred that contemporary medical science considers such diagnostic procedures too subjective, and prefer more objective methods, such as laboratory analyses. This is reflected in choice (D) ג€" the medical profession today favors more objective techniques.
As for the wrong answers, choice (A) says that physicians no longer make diagnoses based on odors because the human sense of smell has considerably diminished over time. Thereג€™s nothing stated or implied in the passage about the sense of smell changing at all, and this answer choice is inapplicable. Choice (B) suggests that physicians no longer favor diagnoses based on odors because the association of odors with disease proved largely fictitious. This is not implied in the passage either. The authorג€™s tone in the last paragraph, where this issue is discussed, is not at all disparaging of these old subjective techniques. So (B) is wrong. Choice (C) says that such subjective diagnostic methods were shown to be useless. Again, the author never says anything disparaging about these subjective techniques. (C) then, is also wrong, and choice (D) is the answer.
Our sense of smell is arguably the most powerful of our five senses, but it also the most elusive. It plays a vital yet mysterious role in our lives. Olfaction is rooted in the same part of the brain that regulates such essential functions as body metabolism, reaction to stress, and appetite. But smell relates to more than physiological function: its sensations are intimately tied to memory, emotion, and sexual desire. Smell seems to lie somewhere beyond the realm of conscious thought, where, intertwined with emotion and experience, it shapes both our conscious and unconscious lives.
The peculiar intimacy of this sense may be related to certain anatomical features. Smell reaches the brain more directly than do sensations of touch, sight, or sound. When we inhale a particular odor, air containing volatile odiferous molecules is warmed and humidified as it flows over specialized bones in the nose called turbinates. As odor molecules land on the olfactory nerves, these nerves fire a message to the brain. Thus olfactory neurons render a direct path between the stimulus provided by the outside environment and the brain, allowing us to rapidly perceive odors ranging from alluring fragrances to noisome fumes.
Certain scents, such as jasmine, are almost universally appealing, while others, like hydrogen sulfide (which emits a stench reminiscent of rotten eggs), are usually considered repellent, but most odors evoke different reactions from person to person, sometimes triggering strong emotional states or resurrecting seemingly forgotten memories. Scientists surmise that the reason why we have highly personal associations with smells is related to the proximity of the olfactory and emotional centers of our brain. Although the precise connection between emotion and olfaction remains a mystery, it is clear that emotion, memory, and smell are all rooted in a part of the brain called the limbic lobe.
Even though we are not always conscious of the presence of odors, and are often unable to either articulate or remember their unique characteristics, our brains always register their existence. In fact, such a large amount of human brain tissue is devoted to smell that scientists surmise the role of this sense must be profound. Moreover, neurobiological research suggests that smell must have an important function because olfactory neurons can regenerate themselves, unlike most other nerve cells. The importance of this sense is further supported by the fact that animals experimentally denied the olfactory sense do not develop full and normal brain function.
The significance of olfaction is much clearer in animals than in human beings. Animal behavior is strongly influenced by pheromones, which are odors that induce psychological or behavioral changes and often provide a means of communicating within a species. These chemical messages, often a complex blend of compounds, are of vital importance to the insect world. Honeybees, for example, organize their societies through odor: the queen bee exudes an odor that both inhibits worker bees from laying eggs and draws drones to her when she is ready to mate. Mammals are also guided by their sense of smell. Through odors emitted by urine and scent glands, many animals maintain their territories, identify one another, signal alarm, and attract mates.
Although our olfactory acuity canג€™t rival that of other animal species, human beings are also guided by smell. Before the advent of sophisticated laboratory techniques, physicians depended on their noses to help diagnose illness. A century ago, it was common medical knowledge that certain bacterial infections carry the musty odor of wine, that typhoid smells like baking bread, and that yellow fever smells like meat. While medical science has moved away from such subjective diagnostic methods, in everyday life we continue to rely on our sense of small, knowingly or not, to guide us.
The sense of smell in animals is different from olfaction in humans in that animals:
Answer : D
Explanation:
This requires the reader to identify how the sense of smell in animals is different from olfaction in humans. The author discusses olfaction in animals in the fifth paragraph, which begins with the statement that ג€the significance of olfaction is much clearer in animals than in human beingsג€. Then, the author discusses the ways in which odors affect animals and bring about behavioral changes. Considering this information, the way smell in animals differs from that in humans is best expressed by answer choice (D) ג€" animals more clearly exhibit behavioral changes in response to odors.Choice (A) says that animals are unable to make associations between smells and past experience. There is no instance in the passage that outright states or implies that. In actuality, the passage suggests that animals, with their clearly important sense of smell, probably are able to remember smells and what they signal or signify. So choice (A) is incorrect. Choice (B) states that animals only use smell to communicate outside their own species. This contradicts information in the second sentence of the fifth paragraph, which says that animals often rely on pheromones to communicate within their own species. Choice (C) suggests that animals rely on olfaction only for mating purposes.
This is incorrect, as the fifth paragraph details the many functions of olfaction in animals ג€" attracting mates is only one important aspect of smell in other animals species. So (C) is also wrong.
Our sense of smell is arguably the most powerful of our five senses, but it also the most elusive. It plays a vital yet mysterious role in our lives. Olfaction is rooted in the same part of the brain that regulates such essential functions as body metabolism, reaction to stress, and appetite. But smell relates to more than physiological function: its sensations are intimately tied to memory, emotion, and sexual desire. Smell seems to lie somewhere beyond the realm of conscious thought, where, intertwined with emotion and experience, it shapes both our conscious and unconscious lives.
The peculiar intimacy of this sense may be related to certain anatomical features. Smell reaches the brain more directly than do sensations of touch, sight, or sound. When we inhale a particular odor, air containing volatile odiferous molecules is warmed and humidified as it flows over specialized bones in the nose called turbinates. As odor molecules land on the olfactory nerves, these nerves fire a message to the brain. Thus olfactory neurons render a direct path between the stimulus provided by the outside environment and the brain, allowing us to rapidly perceive odors ranging from alluring fragrances to noisome fumes.
Certain scents, such as jasmine, are almost universally appealing, while others, like hydrogen sulfide (which emits a stench reminiscent of rotten eggs), are usually considered repellent, but most odors evoke different reactions from person to person, sometimes triggering strong emotional states or resurrecting seemingly forgotten memories. Scientists surmise that the reason why we have highly personal associations with smells is related to the proximity of the olfactory and emotional centers of our brain. Although the precise connection between emotion and olfaction remains a mystery, it is clear that emotion, memory, and smell are all rooted in a part of the brain called the limbic lobe.
Even though we are not always conscious of the presence of odors, and are often unable to either articulate or remember their unique characteristics, our brains always register their existence. In fact, such a large amount of human brain tissue is devoted to smell that scientists surmise the role of this sense must be profound. Moreover, neurobiological research suggests that smell must have an important function because olfactory neurons can regenerate themselves, unlike most other nerve cells. The importance of this sense is further supported by the fact that animals experimentally denied the olfactory sense do not develop full and normal brain function.
The significance of olfaction is much clearer in animals than in human beings. Animal behavior is strongly influenced by pheromones, which are odors that induce psychological or behavioral changes and often provide a means of communicating within a species. These chemical messages, often a complex blend of compounds, are of vital importance to the insect world. Honeybees, for example, organize their societies through odor: the queen bee exudes an odor that both inhibits worker bees from laying eggs and draws drones to her when she is ready to mate. Mammals are also guided by their sense of smell. Through odors emitted by urine and scent glands, many animals maintain their territories, identify one another, signal alarm, and attract mates.
Although our olfactory acuity canג€™t rival that of other animal species, human beings are also guided by smell. Before the advent of sophisticated laboratory techniques, physicians depended on their noses to help diagnose illness. A century ago, it was common medical knowledge that certain bacterial infections carry the musty odor of wine, that typhoid smells like baking bread, and that yellow fever smells like meat. While medical science has moved away from such subjective diagnostic methods, in everyday life we continue to rely on our sense of small, knowingly or not, to guide us.
The author describes the sense of smell as elusive because:
Answer : C
Explanation:
This inquires regarding the authorג€™s description of the sense of smell as ג€elusive.ג€ Smell is described as being an elusive sense in the first sentence of the first paragraph. Although, the author does not explicitly state why smell is an elusive sense, the author implies that smell is a mysterious process whose effects, means of functioning, and process of registering in the brain are not fully known. Considering this, then, choice (C) is the correct answer. One can infer that the author describes the sense of smell as elusive because ג€the function and effects of smell are not fully understoodג€. Choice (A) suggests that the author deems smell elusive because odiferous molecules are extremely volatile. It is true that odiferous molecules are volatile, as this is stated in the third sentence of the second paragraph. The author, however, strongly implies that the mysterious functions of smell, not the actual make-up of odor molecules, is what is elusive about olfaction. Choice (B) says that the author characterizes smell as elusive because its functions are emotional rather than physical. This is not true. Throughout the first paragraph the author points out that smell has both physical and emotional functions. This is a central current of thought throughout the passage. Finally, choice (D) states that olfactory sensations are more fleeting than those of other senses. Even though the second sentence of the second paragraph says that smell reaches the brain more quickly than do sensations of other senses, and the third sentence of that paragraph says that odiferous molecules are volatile and dissipate quickly, we cannot confuse and combine these issues to conclude that olfactory sensations are more fleeting than those of touch, sight, or sound. The pace of olfactory sensations is an issue that simply is not addressed in the passage; choice (D) is wrong.
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