ACT Practice Test READING Passage V SOCIAL SCIENCE: The following passage is excerpted from a popular journal of archeology About fifty miles west of Stonehenge, buried in the peat bogs of the Somerset flatlands in southwestern England, lies the oldest road known to humanity Dubbed the “Sweet Track” after its discoverer, Raymond Sweet, this painstakingly constructed 1800meter road dates back to the early Neolithic period, some 6,000 years ago Thanks primarily to the overlying layer of acidic peat, which has kept the wood moist, inhibited the growth of decay bacteria, and discouraged the curiosity of animal life, the road is remarkably well-preserved Examination of its remains has provided extensive information about the people who constructed it The design of the Sweet Track indicates that its builders possessed extraordinary engineering skills In constructing the road, they first hammered pegs into the soil in the form of upright Xs Single rails were slid beneath the pegs so that the rails rested firmly on the soft surface of the bog Then planks were placed in the V-shaped space formed by the upper arms of the pegs This method of construction—allowing the underlying rail to distribute the weight of the plank above and thereby prevent the pegs from sinking into the marsh—is remarkably sophisticated, testifying to a surprisingly advanced level of technology Furthermore, in order to procure the materials for the road, several different species of tree had to be felled, debarked, and split This suggests that the builders [5] [10] [15] [20] [25] [30] possessed high quality tools and that they knew the differing properties of various roundwoods It appears also that the builders were privy to the finer points of lumbering, maximizing the amount of wood extracted from a given tree by slicing logs of large diameter radially and logs of small diameter tangentially Studies of the Sweet Track further indicate a high level of social organization among its builders This is supported by the observation that the road seems to have been completed in a very short time; treering analysis confirms that the components of the Sweet Track were probably all felled within a single year Moreover, the fact that such an involved engineering effort could be orchestrated in the first place hints at a complex social structure Finally, excavation of the Sweet Track has provided evidence that the people who built it comprised a community devoted to land cultivation It appears that the road was built to serve as a footpath linking two islands—islands that provided a source of timber, cropland, and pastures for the community that settled the hills to the south Furthermore, the quality of the pegs indicates that the workers knew enough to fell trees in such a way as to encourage the rapid growth of long, straight, rod-like shoots from the remaining stumps, to be used as pegs This method, called coppicing, is the earliest known example of woodland management Undoubtedly, the discovery of the Sweet Track in 1970 added much to our knowledge of Neolithic technology But while study of the remains has revealed unexpectedly high levels of engineering and social organization, it must be remembered that the Sweet Track represents the work of [35] [40] [45] [50] [55] [60] [65] [70] [75] a single isolated community One must be careful not to extrapolate sweeping generalizations from the achievements of such a small sample of Neolithic humanity [80] 31 It is most likely that the author refers to the peat bog as “acidic” (line 9) in order to: A indicate the importance of protecting ancient ruins from the effects of modern pollution B distinguish between the effects of acidic and basic conditions on ancient ruins C suggest that acidic conditions were important in inhibiting decay D prove the relevance of knowledge of chemical properties to archaeological concerns 32 The primary focus of the passage is: F the high degree of social organization exhibited by earlier cultures G the complex construction and composition of the Sweet Track H an explanation for the survival of the Sweet Track for over 6,000 years J an exploration of the ways in which the Sweet Track reveals aspects of a particular Neolithic society 33 In the passage, the author mentions ring analysis as evidence that: A the road is at least 6,000 years old B the Sweet Track was constructed quickly C the techniques used in building the road were quite sophisticated D the builders knew enough to split thick trees radially and thin trees tangentially 34 As it is explained in the passage, “woodland management” (lines 78-79) is best described as a system in which trees are: F G H J lumbered in controlled quantities planted only among trees of their own species cultivated in specialized ways for specific purposes felled only as they are needed 35 According to the passage, which of the following was primarily responsible for the preservation of the Sweet Track until modern times? A It was located in an area containing very few animals B Its components were buried beneath the peat bog C Local authorities prohibited development in the surrounding area D It was protected from excessive humidity 36 The last paragraph suggests that the author believes that the Sweet Track: F is not as technologically advanced as is generally believed G should not necessarily be regarded as representative of its time H has not been studied extensively enough to support generalized conclusions J will force historians to reevaluate their assumptions about the Neolithic technology Passage VI SOCIAL SCIENCE: The passage below is excerpted from “The Stereotype Trap” by Sharon Begley (© 2000 Newsweek, Inc.) The passage explains recent research on the effects of stereotypes on performance The students had no idea of the real purpose of the study they had volunteered for… So when 40 black and 40 white Princeton undergraduates volunteered to play mini-golf, the psychologists dissembled a bit This is a test of “natural ability,” Jeff Stone and his colleagues informed some of the kids This is a test of “the ability to think strategically,” they told others Then the students—non-golfers all—played the course, one at a time Among those told the test measured natural ability, black students scored, on average, more than four strokes better than whites In the group told the test gauged strategic savvy, the white kids scored four strokes better, the researchers reported last year “When people are reminded of a negative stereotype about themselves— ‘white men can’t jump’ or ‘black men can’t think’—it can adversely affect performance,” says Stone, now at the University of Arizona Another group of students, 46 Asian American female undergrads at Harvard, thought they were taking a tough, 12-question math test Before one group attacked the advanced algebra, they answered written questions emphasizing ethnicity (“How many generations of your family have lived in America?”) Another group’s questionnaire subtly reminded them of their gender (“Do you live on a co-ed or single-sex dorm floor?”) Women who took the math test [5] [10] [15] [20] [25] [30] after being reminded of their Asian heritage—and thus, it seems, the stereotype that Asians excel at math—scored highest, getting 54 percent right The women whose questionnaire implicitly reminded them of the stereotype that, for girls, “math is hard,” as Barbie infamously said, scored lowest, answering 43 percent correctly The power of stereotypes, scientists had long figured, lay in their ability to change the behavior of the person holding the stereotype… But five years ago Stanford University psychologist Claude Steele showed something else: it is the targets of a stereotype whose behavior is most powerfully affected by it A stereotype that pervades the culture the way “ditzy blondes” and “forgetful seniors” makes people painfully aware of how society views them—so painfully aware, in fact, that knowledge of the stereotype can affect how well they on intellectual and other tasks… In their seminal 1995 study, Steele and Joshua Aronson, now at New York University, focused on how the threat posed by stereotypes affects African Americans They reasoned that whenever black students take on an intellectual task, like an SAT, they face the prospect of confirming widely held suspicions about their brainpower This threat, the psychologists suspected, might interfere with performance To test this hunch, Steele and Aronson gave 44 Stanford undergrads questions from the verbal part of the tough Graduate Record Exam One group was asked, right before the test, to indicate their year in school, age, major, and other information The other group answered all that, as well as one final question: what is your race? The results were sobering “Just listing their race undermined the black students’ performance,” says Steele, making them score sig- [35] [40] [45] [50] [55] [60] [65] [70] [75] nificantly worse than blacks who did not note their race, and significantly worse than all whites But the performance of black Stanfordites who were not explicitly reminded of their race equaled that of whites, found the scientists You not even have to believe a negative stereotype to be hurt by it, psychologists find As long as you care about the ability you’re being tested on, such as golfing or math, and are familiar with the stereotype (“girls can’t higher math”), it can sink you What seems to happen is that as soon as you reach a tough par three or a difficult trig problem, the possibility of confirming, and being personally reduced to, a painful stereotype causes enough distress to impair performance “If you are a white male and you find yourself having difficulty, you may begin to worry about failing the test,” says psychologist Paul Davies of Stanford in an upcoming paper But “if you are a black male…you begin to worry…about failing your race by confirming a negative stereotype.” You don’t outgrow it, either Becca Levy of Yale showed over-60 volunteers subliminal messages (through words flashed quickly on a monitor) and then tested them on memory Seniors who saw words like “Alzheimer’s,” “senile” and “old” always scored worse than seniors who saw words like “wise” and “sage”—in some tests, by 64 percent Does it matter? In a follow-up, Levy used the same subliminal priming But this time she asked the volunteers whether they would accept life-prolonging medical intervention Those seniors primed with positive stereotypes usually said yes; those reminded of senility and frailty said no “What’s so frightening,” says Levy, “is that the stereotype, at least in the short run, overwhelms long-held beliefs.” [80] [85] [90] [95] [100] [105] [110] [115] [120] 37 According to the passage, simply specifying one’s race before a test: A has a more marked effect than specifying one’s gender B is too inconsequential to have any significant influence C can affect one’s performance on that test D is less likely to have influence than seeing subliminal messages flashed quickly on a monitor 38 According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true? F A person must believe that a stereotype is true in order to be affected by that stereotype G Stereotypes about race, age, and gender have all been demonstrated to affect the performance of test subjects H Though the influence of stereotypes on their subjects has only been investigated relatively recently, the influence of stereotypes on those who believe them has long been accepted J Stereotypes can continue to have an influence on people throughout their lives 39 It can be inferred from the description of the experiment in the first paragraph (lines 1-22) that many of the students involved: I -were aware of racial stereotypes about inherent physical and mental abilities II -felt pressure to disprove the hypothesis of the experiment III -likely scored differently because of educational disparities A B C D I only II only I and II only I and III only 40 The author most likely mentions “a difficult trig” problem in lines 91-92 to: F emphasize that most stereotypes involve mental abilities G provide an example of a task with which stereotypes can interfere H imply that gender stereotypes, like those about mathematical ability, have more influence than stereotypes about age or race J explain the existence of prevalent gender stereotypes about mathematical reasoning 41 Based on the passage, the author would most likely agree with which of the following? A By understanding the origins of stereotypes, we can work towards a world in which fewer and fewer people believe such ideas B Although stereotypes about race and age are still prevalent, gender stereotypes are increasingly less widespread C It is possible to be severely affected by a stereotype which you believe to be untrue D As people grow older, they are likely to be less directly affected by stereotypes 42 The primary intent of the author of the passage was most likely to: F trace the history of the effect of stereotypes on test performance G explain the sociological mechanisms by which stereotypes develop and spread H summarize a number of scientific investigations into the influence of stereotypes on those about whom the stereotypes are held J investigate the extent to which racial stereotypes affect students’ performance on college entrance exams 43 As used in line 5, the word dissembled most closely means: A took apart B hid their true purpose C talked extensively D communicated in an unfamiliar way 44 Which of the following characteristics is NOT the subject of a stereotype cited in the passage? F G H J Age Gender Religion Race 45 Based on the final paragraph, it is reasonable to infer that the author believes which of the following? A People can be influenced by stereotypes while making important life decisions B People are unlikely to change long-held beliefs based on exposure to stereotypes C “Subliminal priming” provides too brief an exposure to adequately assess the impact of stereotypes D Exposure to negative stereotypes is the primary cause of frailty and senility in seniors 46 What was the conclusion of the “seminal 1995 study” cited in line 57? F Stereotypes about “natural ability” often have more impact than those about mental abilities G Because of a need to disprove negative stereotypes, many African Americans perform better when aware of those stereotypes H For the undergraduates studied, stereotypes about the mathematical ability of Asian Americans had more impact than stereotypes about the same ability in African Americans J For many African Americans, an awareness of negative stereotypes about intellectual ability can impair test performance Passage VII SOCIAL SCIENCE: The following passage is an adapted excerpt from “The Return of the Big Cats” by Mac Margolis (copyright © 2000 Newsweek, Inc.) The passage compares the benefits and costs of Brazil’s growing jaguar population Marcos Nunes is not likely to forget his first holiday in Brazil’s Pantanal wilderness One afternoon last October he was coaxing his horse through a lonely tuft of woods when he suddenly found himself staring down a fully grown spotted jaguar He held his breath while the painted cat and her cub paraded silkily through the grove, not 10 meters away… “Thank you,” he wrote later in a hotel visitor’s log, “for the wonderful fright!” As Nunes and other ecotourists are discovering, these big, beautiful animals, once at the brink of extinction, are now staging a comeback Exactly how dramatic a comeback is difficult to say because jaguars— Panthera onca, the largest feline in the New World—are solitary, secretive, nocturnal predators Each cat needs to prowl at least 35 square kilometers by itself Brazil’s Pantanal, vast wetlands that spill over a 140,000square-kilometer swath of South America the size of Germany, gives them plenty of room to roam Nevertheless, scientists who have been tagging jaguars with radio transmitters for two decades have in recent years been reporting a big increase in sightings Hotels, campgrounds, and bed-and-breakfasts have sprung up to accommodate the half-million tourists a year (twice the number five years ago) bent on sampling the Pantanal’s wildlife, of which the great cats must be the most magnificent example Most sightings come from local cattle [5] [10] [15] [20] [25] [30] herders—but their jaguar stories have a very different ring One day last September, ranch hand Abel Monteiro was tending cattle near the Rio Vermelho, in the southern Pantanal, when, he says, a snarling jaguar leaped from the scrub and killed his two bloodhounds Monteiro barely had time to grab his 38 revolver and kill the angry cat Leonelson Ramos da Silva says last May he and a group of field hands had to throw flaming sticks all night to keep a prowling jaguar from invading their forest camp… The Brazilian interior, famous for its generous spirit and cowboy bonhomie, is now the scene of a political cat fight between the scientists, environmentalists, and ecotourists who want to protect the jaguars and the embattled ranchers who want to protect themselves and their livelihood The ranchers, to be sure, have enough headaches coping with the harsh, sodden landscape without jaguars attacking their herds and threatening their livelihoods Hard data on cattle losses due to jaguars in the Pantanal are nonexistent, but there are stories In 1995, Joo Julio Dittmar bought a 6,200-hectare strip of ideal breeding ground, only to lose 152 of his 600 calves to jaguars, he claims Ranchers chafe at laws that forbid them to kill the jaguars “This is a question of democracy,” says Dittmar “We ranchers ought to be allowed to control our own environment.” Man and jaguar have been sparring for territory ever since 18th-century settlers, traders, and herdsmen began to move into this sparsely populated serto, or back lands By the 1960s, the Pantanal was a vast, soggy canvas, white with gleaming herds of Nelore cattle Game hunters were bagging 15,000 jaguars a year in the nearby Amazon Basin (no figures exist on the Pantanal) as the worldwide trade in pelts reached $30 million a year As the jaguars grew scarce, [35] [40] [45] [50] [55] [60] [65] [70] [75] their chief food staple, the capybaras—a meter-long rodent, the world’s largest— overran farmers’ fields and spread trichomoniasis, a livestock disease that renders cows sterile Then in 1967, Brazil outlawed jaguar hunting, and a world ban on selling pelts followed in 1973 Weather patterns also shifted radically—due most likely to global warming—and drove annual floods to near-Biblical proportions The waters are only now retreating from some inundated pasturelands As the Pantanal herds shrank from million to about 3.5 million head, the jaguars advanced Along the way they developed a taste for the bovine intruders The ranchers’ fear of the big cats is partly cultural The ancient Inca and Maya believed that jaguars possessed supernatural powers In Brazil, the most treacherous enemy is said to be o amigo da onca, a friend to the jaguar… Some people believe there may be a way for ranchers and jaguars to coexist Sports hunters on “green safaris” might shoot jaguars with immobilizing drugs, allowing scientists to fit the cats with radio collars Fees would help sustain jaguar research and compensate ranchers for livestock losses (Many environmentalists, though, fear fraudulent claims.) Scientists are setting up workshops to teach ranchers how to protect their herds with modern husbandry, pasture management, and such gadgets as blinking lights and electric fences Like many rural folk, however, the wetland ranchers tend to bristle at bureaucrats and foreigners telling them what to When the scholars go home and the greens log off, the pantaneiros will still be there—left on their own to deal with the [80] [85] [90] [95] [100] [105] [110] [115] [120] jaguars as they see fit 47 As it is used in the passage, canvas (line 73) most closely means: A a survey of public opinion B a background of events C a coarse cotton fabric D a painting 48 According to the passage, one result of the decline of the jaguar population during the 1960s was: F the increase in the population of the settlers G an increase in Brazil’s ecotourist business H an increase in the price of a jaguar pelt J an increase in the population of their most common source of food, the capybaras 49 According to the passage, it is difficult to determine the extent of the jaguar’s comeback because: A the area they inhabit is so large B the stories that the local ranchers tell about jaguars contradict the conclusions reached by scientists C jaguars are solitary, nocturnal animals that can have a territory of 35 square kilometers D scientists have only used radio transmitters to track the movements of the jaguar population 50 The information about ecotourism in the first and second paragraphs of the passage (lines 1-33) suggests that: F G H J the jaguars are seen as a threat to the safety of tourists the jaguars are important to the success of Brazil’s growing ecotourism industry the growth of the ecotourism industry is threatening the habitat of the jaguars it is common for ecotourists to spot one or more jaguars 51 According to the passage, which of the following is NOT a method for protecting cattle herds that scientists are teaching ranchers? A “Green safaris” B Pasture management C The use of blinking lights and electric fences D Modern husbandry 52 It is most likely that the author of the passage included the jaguar stories of three ranchers (lines 34-67) in order to: F express more sympathy toward the ranchers than toward the environmentalists and scientists G illustrate the dangers and economic losses that the jaguars currently pose to ranchers H show the violent nature of the ranchers J provide a complete picture of the Pantanal landscape 53 From information in the passage, it is most reasonable to infer that the cattle herds “shrank from million to about 3.5 million head” (lines 91-92) because: A the jaguars had killed so many cattle B environmentalists and scientists worked to convert pastureland into refuges for the jaguars C many cows had become sterile from trichomoniasis and annual floods submerged much of the pastureland used by ranchers D the cattle could not tolerate the increase in the average temperature caused by global warming 54 The main conclusion reached about the future of the relationship between the people and the jaguars in the Pantanal is that: F the increase in ecotourism will ensure the continued growth in the jaguar population G the ranchers themselves will ultimately determine how they will cope with the jaguars H the jaguar population will continue to fluctuate with the number of tourists coming into Pantanal J the scientists’ new ranching methods will make it easy for the ranchers and jaguars to coexist 55 According to the passage, which of the following groups want to protect the jaguar? I -Ecotourists II -Environmentalists III -Scientists A B C D I and II only I and III only II and III only I, II, and III 56 According to the passage, there is no accurate data available on: F the number of cattle killed by jaguars G the number of ranchers attacked by jaguars H the growth rate of ecotourism in Brazil J the percentage of the Pantanal wetlands inhabited by jaguars Passage VIII HUMANITIES: This passage is excerpted from the catalogue of a museum exhibition on arms and armor The passage provides examples of the connections between art and weaponry throughout the ages From the beginning, arms and art were essential and interrelated elements in the life of mankind Weapons for the hunt, such as spears, throwing clubs, and bows and arrows, were necessary tools in the daily struggle for survival Art, meanwhile, seems to have begun primarily as hunting magic By painting images of game animals on cave walls and carving them on spear-throwers and arrow straighteners, hunters attempted to use supernatural means to secure an abundant supply of meat and hides for food and clothing Since arms were literally a matter of life and death, either as weapons designed to kill or as armor designed to protect from harm, it was crucial that they be constructed for maximum effect and with the greatest technical efficiency; in many cases this process resulted in functional beauty To further enhance the aesthetic and ideological values of arms—and not least to emphasize their significance as status symbols for their owners—arms of all periods were embellished with a wide range of designs and in every technique known to the decorative arts In classical antiquity, too, there was a close relationship between art and arms The patron deity of the arts in ancient Greece, for instance, was Pallas Athena, who was represented as helmeted, armored, and carrying a shield and a spear Athena’s weapons were of supernatural origin: she was born fully armed from the brow of Zeus Significantly, there was also one among the Olympian gods who worked with his [5] [10] [15] [20] [25] [30] [35] hands at a human craft, the divine smith Hephaestos—known as Vulcan to the Romans—who not only created dazzling jewelry for the goddesses but also manufactured impenetrable and splendidly decorated armor for the god of war Ares, or Mars, as well as for the mortal hero Achilles Evidence of the artistry brought to weapons in ancient times is abundant In The Iliad, Homer describes the shield of Achilles as a mirror of the world “in imperishable bronze, some tin, and precious gold and silver.” When Mycenae was excavated in 1875 by Heinrich Schliemann, he found swords and daggers decorated with superb multicolored inlays in the technique vividly described by Homer They were of such artistic finesse that they would have met with the approval even of Hephaestos Under the influence of Christianity, during the so-called Dark Ages, the idea of the divine craftsman was transformed into a human figure: the legendary Wayland the Smith Wayland worked in gold as well as in steel, fashioning jewels so temptingly beautiful as to sway the virtue of princesses and forging sword blades painstakingly wrought from interwoven strands of iron and steel The craft of the smith was believed to hold a powerful magic, and the prestige of even the greatest of Celtic or Germanic heroes was enhanced if they were apprenticed to smiths For centuries master craftsmen remained nameless, but when awakening artistic self-esteem in the Renaissance let artists step out of the shadows of anonymity, the greatest names, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Hans Holbein, Albrecht Durer, and Benvenuto Cellini, were found quite matterof-factly among those of designers and manufacturers of arms [40] [45] [50] [55] [60] [65] [70] [75] 57 It is most likely that the author mentions Pallas Athena (line 30) and Hephaestos (line 39) in order to demonstrate: A B C D the close association between war and the arts the difference between human and divine arts the classical ideals of beauty and craftsmanship the notion of artists as divinely inspired 58 The central purpose of the passage is to: F compare the relative importance of art and of arms-making in various eras G describe the high level of artistry brought to arms-making throughout history H show how the influence of Christianity affected the practice of arms-making J analyze the interplay between Renaissance ideals of beauty and function in the design of arms 59 Which of the following is NOT used in the passage as an example of the interplay between artistry and weaponry? A Carving images of game animals into spear-throwers B Homer’s description of Achilles’ shield C The work of Heinrich Schliemann D The work of Wayland the Smith 60 As it is used in line 11, secure most nearly means: F create G make safe H obtain J guard 61 In lines 14-26, the author implies that arms were decorated as a way of: A B C D lending legitimacy to the causes for which wars were fought distinguishing them from purely ceremonial objects enhancing their effectiveness in battle suggesting the importance of those who possessed them 62 Information in the passage suggests that the author regards Wayland the Smith as: F a figure whose work stands in stark contrast to that of the divine craftsmen of ancient lore G a legendary character who embodied the ideal of skilled craftsmanship H an exception to the rule of the armorer as a creator of useful yet decorative objects J a figure who was symbolic of the decline in status of arms-making in the Dark Ages  ... gender (“Do you live on a co-ed or single-sex dorm floor?”) Women who took the math test [5] [10] [15] [20 ] [25 ] [30] after being reminded of their Asian heritage—and thus, it seems, the stereotype... [10] [15] [20 ] [25 ] [30] [35] hands at a human craft, the divine smith Hephaestos—known as Vulcan to the Romans—who not only created dazzling jewelry for the goddesses but also manufactured impenetrable... anonymity, the greatest names, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Hans Holbein, Albrecht Durer, and Benvenuto Cellini, were found quite matterof-factly among those of designers and manufacturers of arms