Practice Test - 2 Free MCQ Practice Test with Solutions

Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 1

Question is based on the following passage.
This passage is from Charlotte Brontë, The Professor, originally published in 1857.

No man likes to acknowledge that he has made a
mistake in the choice of his profession, and every
man, worthy of the name, will row long against wind
and tide before he allows himself to cry out, “I am
5 baffled!” and submits to be floated passively back to
land. From the first week of my residence in X—
felt my occupation irksome. The thing itself—the
work of copying and translating business-letters—
was a dry and tedious task enough, but had that been
10 all, I should long have borne with the nuisance; I am
not of an impatient nature, and influenced by the
double desire of getting my living and justifying to
myself and others the resolution I had taken to
become a tradesman, I should have endured in
15 silence the rust and cramp of my best faculties; I
should not have whispered, even inwardly, that I
longed for liberty; I should have pent in every sigh by
which my heart might have ventured to intimate its
distress under the closeness, smoke, monotony, and
20 joyless tumult of Bigben Close, and its panting desire
for freer and fresher scenes; I should have set up the
image of Duty, the fetish of Perseverance, in my
small bedroom at Mrs. King’s lodgings, and they two
should have been my household gods, from which
25 my darling, my cherished-in-secret, Imagination, the
tender and the mighty, should never, either by
softness or strength, have severed me. But this was
not all; the antipathy which had sprung up between
myself and my employer striking deeper root and
30 spreading denser shade daily, excluded me from
every glimpse of the sunshine of life; and I began to
feel like a plant growing in humid darkness out of the
slimy walls of a well.
Antipathy is the only word which can express the
35 feeling Edward Crimsworth had for me—a feeling, in
a great measure, involuntary, and which was liable to
be excited by every, the most trifling movement,
look, or word of mine. My southern accent annoyed
him; the degree of education evinced in my language
40 irritated him; my punctuality, industry, and
accuracy, fixed his dislike, and gave it the high
flavour and poignant relish of envy; he feared that I
too should one day make a successful tradesman.
Had I been in anything inferior to him, he would not
45 have hated me so thoroughly, but I knew all that he
knew, and, what was worse, he suspected that I kept
the padlock of silence on mental wealth in which he
was no sharer. If he could have once placed me in a
ridiculous or mortifying position, he would have
50 forgiven me much, but I was guarded by three
faculties—Caution, Tact, Observation; and prowling
and prying as was Edward’s malignity, it could never
baffle the lynx-eyes of these, my natural sentinels.
Day by day did his malice watch my tact, hoping it
55 would sleep, and prepared to steal snake-like on its
slumber; but tact, if it be genuine, never sleeps.
I had received my first quarter’s wages, and was
returning to my lodgings, possessed heart and soul
with the pleasant feeling that the master who had
60 paid me grudged every penny of that hard‑earned
pittance—(I had long ceased to regard
Mr. Crimsworth as my brother—he was a hard,
grinding master; he wished to be an inexorable
tyrant: that was all). Thoughts, not varied but strong,
65 occupied my mind; two voices spoke within me;
again and again they uttered the same monotonous
phrases. One said: “William, your life is intolerable.”
The other: “What can you do to alter it?” I walked
fast, for it was a cold, frosty night in January; as I
70 approached my lodgings, I turned from a general
view of my affairs to the particular speculation as to
whether my fire would be out; looking towards the
window of my sitting-room, I saw no cheering red
gleam.

Q. Which choice best summarizes the passage?

A.
A character describes his dislike for his new joband considers the reasons why.
B.
Two characters employed in the same officebecome increasingly competitive.
C.
A young man regrets privately a choice that hedefends publicly.
D.
A new employee experiences optimism, thenfrustration, and finally despair.

Detailed Solution for Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 1

Choice A is the best answer. The narrator admits that his job is “irksome” (line 7) and reflects on the reasons for his dislike. The narrator admits that his work is a “dry and tedious task” (line 9) and that he has a poor relationship with his superior: “the antipathy which had sprung up between myself and my employer striking deeper root and spreading denser shade daily, excluded me from every glimpse of the sunshine of life” (lines 28-31). Choices B, C, and D are incorrect because the narrator does not become increasingly competitive with his employer, publicly defend his choice of occupation, or exhibit optimism about his job.

Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 2

Question is based on the following passage.
This passage is from Charlotte Brontë, The Professor, originally published in 1857.

No man likes to acknowledge that he has made a
mistake in the choice of his profession, and every
man, worthy of the name, will row long against wind
and tide before he allows himself to cry out, “I am
5 baffled!” and submits to be floated passively back to
land. From the first week of my residence in X—
felt my occupation irksome. The thing itself—the
work of copying and translating business-letters—
was a dry and tedious task enough, but had that been
10 all, I should long have borne with the nuisance; I am
not of an impatient nature, and influenced by the
double desire of getting my living and justifying to
myself and others the resolution I had taken to
become a tradesman, I should have endured in
15 silence the rust and cramp of my best faculties; I
should not have whispered, even inwardly, that I
longed for liberty; I should have pent in every sigh by
which my heart might have ventured to intimate its
distress under the closeness, smoke, monotony, and
20 joyless tumult of Bigben Close, and its panting desire
for freer and fresher scenes; I should have set up the
image of Duty, the fetish of Perseverance, in my
small bedroom at Mrs. King’s lodgings, and they two
should have been my household gods, from which
25 my darling, my cherished-in-secret, Imagination, the
tender and the mighty, should never, either by
softness or strength, have severed me. But this was
not all; the antipathy which had sprung up between
myself and my employer striking deeper root and
30 spreading denser shade daily, excluded me from
every glimpse of the sunshine of life; and I began to
feel like a plant growing in humid darkness out of the
slimy walls of a well.
Antipathy is the only word which can express the
35 feeling Edward Crimsworth had for me—a feeling, in
a great measure, involuntary, and which was liable to
be excited by every, the most trifling movement,
look, or word of mine. My southern accent annoyed
him; the degree of education evinced in my language
40 irritated him; my punctuality, industry, and
accuracy, fixed his dislike, and gave it the high
flavour and poignant relish of envy; he feared that I
too should one day make a successful tradesman.
Had I been in anything inferior to him, he would not
45 have hated me so thoroughly, but I knew all that he
knew, and, what was worse, he suspected that I kept
the padlock of silence on mental wealth in which he
was no sharer. If he could have once placed me in a
ridiculous or mortifying position, he would have
50 forgiven me much, but I was guarded by three
faculties—Caution, Tact, Observation; and prowling
and prying as was Edward’s malignity, it could never
baffle the lynx-eyes of these, my natural sentinels.
Day by day did his malice watch my tact, hoping it
55 would sleep, and prepared to steal snake-like on its
slumber; but tact, if it be genuine, never sleeps.
I had received my first quarter’s wages, and was
returning to my lodgings, possessed heart and soul
with the pleasant feeling that the master who had
60 paid me grudged every penny of that hard‑earned
pittance—(I had long ceased to regard
Mr. Crimsworth as my brother—he was a hard,
grinding master; he wished to be an inexorable
tyrant: that was all). Thoughts, not varied but strong,
65 occupied my mind; two voices spoke within me;
again and again they uttered the same monotonous
phrases. One said: “William, your life is intolerable.”
The other: “What can you do to alter it?” I walked
fast, for it was a cold, frosty night in January; as I
70 approached my lodgings, I turned from a general
view of my affairs to the particular speculation as to
whether my fire would be out; looking towards the
window of my sitting-room, I saw no cheering red
gleam.

Q. The main purpose of the opening sentence of the passage is to

A.
establish the narrator’s perspective on a controversy.
B.
provide context useful in understanding the narrator’s emotional state.
C.
offer a symbolic representation of Edward Crimsworth’s plight.
D.
contrast the narrator’s good intentions with his malicious conduct.

Detailed Solution for Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 2

Choice B is the best answer. The first sentence of the passage explains that people do not like to admit when they’ve chosen the wrong profession and that they will continue in their profession for a while before admitting their unhappiness. This statement mirrors the narrator’s own situation, as the narrator admits he finds his own occupation “irksome” (line 7) but that he might “long have borne with the nuisance” (line 10) if not for his poor relationship with his employer. Choices A, C, and D are incorrect because the first sentence does not discuss a controversy, focus on the narrator’s employer, Edward Crimsworth, or provide any evidence of malicious conduct.

Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 3

Question is based on the following passage.
This passage is from Charlotte Brontë, The Professor, originally published in 1857.

No man likes to acknowledge that he has made a
mistake in the choice of his profession, and every
man, worthy of the name, will row long against wind
and tide before he allows himself to cry out, “I am
5 baffled!” and submits to be floated passively back to
land. From the first week of my residence in X—
felt my occupation irksome. The thing itself—the
work of copying and translating business-letters—
was a dry and tedious task enough, but had that been
10 all, I should long have borne with the nuisance; I am
not of an impatient nature, and influenced by the
double desire of getting my living and justifying to
myself and others the resolution I had taken to
become a tradesman, I should have endured in
15 silence the rust and cramp of my best faculties; I
should not have whispered, even inwardly, that I
longed for liberty; I should have pent in every sigh by
which my heart might have ventured to intimate its
distress under the closeness, smoke, monotony, and
20 joyless tumult of Bigben Close, and its panting desire
for freer and fresher scenes; I should have set up the
image of Duty, the fetish of Perseverance, in my
small bedroom at Mrs. King’s lodgings, and they two
should have been my household gods, from which
25 my darling, my cherished-in-secret, Imagination, the
tender and the mighty, should never, either by
softness or strength, have severed me. But this was
not all; the antipathy which had sprung up between
myself and my employer striking deeper root and
30 spreading denser shade daily, excluded me from
every glimpse of the sunshine of life; and I began to
feel like a plant growing in humid darkness out of the
slimy walls of a well.
Antipathy is the only word which can express the
35 feeling Edward Crimsworth had for me—a feeling, in
a great measure, involuntary, and which was liable to
be excited by every, the most trifling movement,
look, or word of mine. My southern accent annoyed
him; the degree of education evinced in my language
40 irritated him; my punctuality, industry, and
accuracy, fixed his dislike, and gave it the high
flavour and poignant relish of envy; he feared that I
too should one day make a successful tradesman.
Had I been in anything inferior to him, he would not
45 have hated me so thoroughly, but I knew all that he
knew, and, what was worse, he suspected that I kept
the padlock of silence on mental wealth in which he
was no sharer. If he could have once placed me in a
ridiculous or mortifying position, he would have
50 forgiven me much, but I was guarded by three
faculties—Caution, Tact, Observation; and prowling
and prying as was Edward’s malignity, it could never
baffle the lynx-eyes of these, my natural sentinels.
Day by day did his malice watch my tact, hoping it
55 would sleep, and prepared to steal snake-like on its
slumber; but tact, if it be genuine, never sleeps.
I had received my first quarter’s wages, and was
returning to my lodgings, possessed heart and soul
with the pleasant feeling that the master who had
60 paid me grudged every penny of that hard‑earned
pittance—(I had long ceased to regard
Mr. Crimsworth as my brother—he was a hard,
grinding master; he wished to be an inexorable
tyrant: that was all). Thoughts, not varied but strong,
65 occupied my mind; two voices spoke within me;
again and again they uttered the same monotonous
phrases. One said: “William, your life is intolerable.”
The other: “What can you do to alter it?” I walked
fast, for it was a cold, frosty night in January; as I
70 approached my lodgings, I turned from a general
view of my affairs to the particular speculation as to
whether my fire would be out; looking towards the
window of my sitting-room, I saw no cheering red
gleam.

Q. During the course of the first paragraph, the narrator’s focus shifts from

A.
recollection of past confidence to acknowledgment of present self-doubt.
B.
reflection on his expectations of life as a tradesman to his desire for another job.
C.
generalization about job dissatisfaction to the specifics of his own situation.
D.
evaluation of factors making him unhappy to identification of alternatives.

Detailed Solution for Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 3

Choice C is the best answer. The first paragraph shifts from a general discussion of how people deal with choosing an occupation they later regret (lines 1-6) to the narrator’s description of his own dissatisfaction with his occupation (lines 6-33). Choices A, B, and D are incorrect because the first paragraph does not focus on the narrator’s self-doubt, his expectations of life as a tradesman, or his identification of alternatives to his current occupation.

Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 4

Question is based on the following passage.
This passage is from Charlotte Brontë, The Professor, originally published in 1857.

No man likes to acknowledge that he has made a
mistake in the choice of his profession, and every
man, worthy of the name, will row long against wind
and tide before he allows himself to cry out, “I am
5 baffled!” and submits to be floated passively back to
land. From the first week of my residence in X—
felt my occupation irksome. The thing itself—the
work of copying and translating business-letters—
was a dry and tedious task enough, but had that been
10 all, I should long have borne with the nuisance; I am
not of an impatient nature, and influenced by the
double desire of getting my living and justifying to
myself and others the resolution I had taken to
become a tradesman, I should have endured in
15 silence the rust and cramp of my best faculties; I
should not have whispered, even inwardly, that I
longed for liberty; I should have pent in every sigh by
which my heart might have ventured to intimate its
distress under the closeness, smoke, monotony, and
20 joyless tumult of Bigben Close, and its panting desire
for freer and fresher scenes; I should have set up the
image of Duty, the fetish of Perseverance, in my
small bedroom at Mrs. King’s lodgings, and they two
should have been my household gods, from which
25 my darling, my cherished-in-secret, Imagination, the
tender and the mighty, should never, either by
softness or strength, have severed me. But this was
not all; the antipathy which had sprung up between
myself and my employer striking deeper root and
30 spreading denser shade daily, excluded me from
every glimpse of the sunshine of life; and I began to
feel like a plant growing in humid darkness out of the
slimy walls of a well.
Antipathy is the only word which can express the
35 feeling Edward Crimsworth had for me—a feeling, in
a great measure, involuntary, and which was liable to
be excited by every, the most trifling movement,
look, or word of mine. My southern accent annoyed
him; the degree of education evinced in my language
40 irritated him; my punctuality, industry, and
accuracy, fixed his dislike, and gave it the high
flavour and poignant relish of envy; he feared that I
too should one day make a successful tradesman.
Had I been in anything inferior to him, he would not
45 have hated me so thoroughly, but I knew all that he
knew, and, what was worse, he suspected that I kept
the padlock of silence on mental wealth in which he
was no sharer. If he could have once placed me in a
ridiculous or mortifying position, he would have
50 forgiven me much, but I was guarded by three
faculties—Caution, Tact, Observation; and prowling
and prying as was Edward’s malignity, it could never
baffle the lynx-eyes of these, my natural sentinels.
Day by day did his malice watch my tact, hoping it
55 would sleep, and prepared to steal snake-like on its
slumber; but tact, if it be genuine, never sleeps.
I had received my first quarter’s wages, and was
returning to my lodgings, possessed heart and soul
with the pleasant feeling that the master who had
60 paid me grudged every penny of that hard‑earned
pittance—(I had long ceased to regard
Mr. Crimsworth as my brother—he was a hard,
grinding master; he wished to be an inexorable
tyrant: that was all). Thoughts, not varied but strong,
65 occupied my mind; two voices spoke within me;
again and again they uttered the same monotonous
phrases. One said: “William, your life is intolerable.”
The other: “What can you do to alter it?” I walked
fast, for it was a cold, frosty night in January; as I
70 approached my lodgings, I turned from a general
view of my affairs to the particular speculation as to
whether my fire would be out; looking towards the
window of my sitting-room, I saw no cheering red
gleam.

Q. The references to “shade” and “darkness” at the end of the first paragraph mainly have which effect?

A.
They evoke the narrator’s sense of dismay.
B.
They reflect the narrator’s sinister thoughts.
C.
They capture the narrator’s fear of confinement.
D.
They reveal the narrator’s longing for rest.

Detailed Solution for Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 4

Choice A is the best answer. In lines 27-33, the narrator is describing the hostile relationship between him and his superior, Edward Crimsworth. This relationship causes the narrator to feel like he lives in the “shade” and in “humid darkness.” These words evoke the narrator’s feelings of dismay toward his current occupation and his poor relationship with his superior— factors that cause him to live without “the sunshine of life.” Choices B, C, and D are incorrect because the words “shade” and “darkness” do not reflect the narrator’s sinister thoughts, his fear of confinement, or his longing for rest.

Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 5

Question is based on the following passage.
This passage is from Charlotte Brontë, The Professor, originally published in 1857.

No man likes to acknowledge that he has made a
mistake in the choice of his profession, and every
man, worthy of the name, will row long against wind
and tide before he allows himself to cry out, “I am
5 baffled!” and submits to be floated passively back to
land. From the first week of my residence in X—
felt my occupation irksome. The thing itself—the
work of copying and translating business-letters—
was a dry and tedious task enough, but had that been
10 all, I should long have borne with the nuisance; I am
not of an impatient nature, and influenced by the
double desire of getting my living and justifying to
myself and others the resolution I had taken to
become a tradesman, I should have endured in
15 silence the rust and cramp of my best faculties; I
should not have whispered, even inwardly, that I
longed for liberty; I should have pent in every sigh by
which my heart might have ventured to intimate its
distress under the closeness, smoke, monotony, and
20 joyless tumult of Bigben Close, and its panting desire
for freer and fresher scenes; I should have set up the
image of Duty, the fetish of Perseverance, in my
small bedroom at Mrs. King’s lodgings, and they two
should have been my household gods, from which
25 my darling, my cherished-in-secret, Imagination, the
tender and the mighty, should never, either by
softness or strength, have severed me. But this was
not all; the antipathy which had sprung up between
myself and my employer striking deeper root and
30 spreading denser shade daily, excluded me from
every glimpse of the sunshine of life; and I began to
feel like a plant growing in humid darkness out of the
slimy walls of a well.
Antipathy is the only word which can express the
35 feeling Edward Crimsworth had for me—a feeling, in
a great measure, involuntary, and which was liable to
be excited by every, the most trifling movement,
look, or word of mine. My southern accent annoyed
him; the degree of education evinced in my language
40 irritated him; my punctuality, industry, and
accuracy, fixed his dislike, and gave it the high
flavour and poignant relish of envy; he feared that I
too should one day make a successful tradesman.
Had I been in anything inferior to him, he would not
45 have hated me so thoroughly, but I knew all that he
knew, and, what was worse, he suspected that I kept
the padlock of silence on mental wealth in which he
was no sharer. If he could have once placed me in a
ridiculous or mortifying position, he would have
50 forgiven me much, but I was guarded by three
faculties—Caution, Tact, Observation; and prowling
and prying as was Edward’s malignity, it could never
baffle the lynx-eyes of these, my natural sentinels.
Day by day did his malice watch my tact, hoping it
55 would sleep, and prepared to steal snake-like on its
slumber; but tact, if it be genuine, never sleeps.
I had received my first quarter’s wages, and was
returning to my lodgings, possessed heart and soul
with the pleasant feeling that the master who had
60 paid me grudged every penny of that hard‑earned
pittance—(I had long ceased to regard
Mr. Crimsworth as my brother—he was a hard,
grinding master; he wished to be an inexorable
tyrant: that was all). Thoughts, not varied but strong,
65 occupied my mind; two voices spoke within me;
again and again they uttered the same monotonous
phrases. One said: “William, your life is intolerable.”
The other: “What can you do to alter it?” I walked
fast, for it was a cold, frosty night in January; as I
70 approached my lodgings, I turned from a general
view of my affairs to the particular speculation as to
whether my fire would be out; looking towards the
window of my sitting-room, I saw no cheering red
gleam.

Q. The passage indicates that Edward Crimsworth’s behavior was mainly caused by his

A.
impatience with the narrator’s high spirits.
B.
scorn of the narrator’s humble background.
C.
indignation at the narrator’s rash actions.
D.
jealousy of the narrator’s apparent superiority

Detailed Solution for Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 5

Choice D is the best answer. The narrator states that Crimsworth dislikes him because the narrator may “one day make a successful tradesman” (line 43). Crimsworth recognizes that the narrator is not “inferior to him” but rather more intelligent, someone who keeps “the padlock of silence on mental wealth which [Crimsworth] was no sharer” (lines 44-48). Crimsworth feels inferior to the narrator and is jealous of the narrator’s intellectual and professional abilities. Choices A and C are incorrect because the narrator is not described as exhibiting “high spirits” or “rash actions,” but “Caution, Tact, [and] Observation” (line 51). Choice B is incorrect because the narrator’s “humble background” is not discussed.

Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 6

Question is based on the following passage.
This passage is from Charlotte Brontë, The Professor, originally published in 1857.

No man likes to acknowledge that he has made a
mistake in the choice of his profession, and every
man, worthy of the name, will row long against wind
and tide before he allows himself to cry out, “I am
5 baffled!” and submits to be floated passively back to
land. From the first week of my residence in X—
felt my occupation irksome. The thing itself—the
work of copying and translating business-letters—
was a dry and tedious task enough, but had that been
10 all, I should long have borne with the nuisance; I am
not of an impatient nature, and influenced by the
double desire of getting my living and justifying to
myself and others the resolution I had taken to
become a tradesman, I should have endured in
15 silence the rust and cramp of my best faculties; I
should not have whispered, even inwardly, that I
longed for liberty; I should have pent in every sigh by
which my heart might have ventured to intimate its
distress under the closeness, smoke, monotony, and
20 joyless tumult of Bigben Close, and its panting desire
for freer and fresher scenes; I should have set up the
image of Duty, the fetish of Perseverance, in my
small bedroom at Mrs. King’s lodgings, and they two
should have been my household gods, from which
25 my darling, my cherished-in-secret, Imagination, the
tender and the mighty, should never, either by
softness or strength, have severed me. But this was
not all; the antipathy which had sprung up between
myself and my employer striking deeper root and
30 spreading denser shade daily, excluded me from
every glimpse of the sunshine of life; and I began to
feel like a plant growing in humid darkness out of the
slimy walls of a well.
Antipathy is the only word which can express the
35 feeling Edward Crimsworth had for me—a feeling, in
a great measure, involuntary, and which was liable to
be excited by every, the most trifling movement,
look, or word of mine. My southern accent annoyed
him; the degree of education evinced in my language
40 irritated him; my punctuality, industry, and
accuracy, fixed his dislike, and gave it the high
flavour and poignant relish of envy; he feared that I
too should one day make a successful tradesman.
Had I been in anything inferior to him, he would not
45 have hated me so thoroughly, but I knew all that he
knew, and, what was worse, he suspected that I kept
the padlock of silence on mental wealth in which he
was no sharer. If he could have once placed me in a
ridiculous or mortifying position, he would have
50 forgiven me much, but I was guarded by three
faculties—Caution, Tact, Observation; and prowling
and prying as was Edward’s malignity, it could never
baffle the lynx-eyes of these, my natural sentinels.
Day by day did his malice watch my tact, hoping it
55 would sleep, and prepared to steal snake-like on its
slumber; but tact, if it be genuine, never sleeps.
I had received my first quarter’s wages, and was
returning to my lodgings, possessed heart and soul
with the pleasant feeling that the master who had
60 paid me grudged every penny of that hard‑earned
pittance—(I had long ceased to regard
Mr. Crimsworth as my brother—he was a hard,
grinding master; he wished to be an inexorable
tyrant: that was all). Thoughts, not varied but strong,
65 occupied my mind; two voices spoke within me;
again and again they uttered the same monotonous
phrases. One said: “William, your life is intolerable.”
The other: “What can you do to alter it?” I walked
fast, for it was a cold, frosty night in January; as I
70 approached my lodgings, I turned from a general
view of my affairs to the particular speculation as to
whether my fire would be out; looking towards the
window of my sitting-room, I saw no cheering red
gleam.

Q. The passage indicates that when the narrator began working for Edward Crimsworth, he viewed Crimsworth as a

A.
harmless rival.
B.
sympathetic ally.
C.
perceptive judge.
D.
demanding mentor.

Detailed Solution for Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 6

Choice B is the best answer. Lines 61-62 state that the narrator “had long ceased to regard Mr. Crimsworth as my brother.” In these lines, the term “brother” means friend or ally, which suggests that the narrator and Crimsworth were once friendly toward one another. Choices A, C, and D are incorrect because the narrator originally viewed Crimsworth as a friend, or ally, and later as a hostile superior; he never viewed Crimsworth as a harmless rival, perceptive judge, or demanding mentor.

Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 7

Question is based on the following passage.
This passage is from Charlotte Brontë, The Professor, originally published in 1857.

No man likes to acknowledge that he has made a
mistake in the choice of his profession, and every
man, worthy of the name, will row long against wind
and tide before he allows himself to cry out, “I am
5 baffled!” and submits to be floated passively back to
land. From the first week of my residence in X—
felt my occupation irksome. The thing itself—the
work of copying and translating business-letters—
was a dry and tedious task enough, but had that been
10 all, I should long have borne with the nuisance; I am
not of an impatient nature, and influenced by the
double desire of getting my living and justifying to
myself and others the resolution I had taken to
become a tradesman, I should have endured in
15 silence the rust and cramp of my best faculties; I
should not have whispered, even inwardly, that I
longed for liberty; I should have pent in every sigh by
which my heart might have ventured to intimate its
distress under the closeness, smoke, monotony, and
20 joyless tumult of Bigben Close, and its panting desire
for freer and fresher scenes; I should have set up the
image of Duty, the fetish of Perseverance, in my
small bedroom at Mrs. King’s lodgings, and they two
should have been my household gods, from which
25 my darling, my cherished-in-secret, Imagination, the
tender and the mighty, should never, either by
softness or strength, have severed me. But this was
not all; the antipathy which had sprung up between
myself and my employer striking deeper root and
30 spreading denser shade daily, excluded me from
every glimpse of the sunshine of life; and I began to
feel like a plant growing in humid darkness out of the
slimy walls of a well.
Antipathy is the only word which can express the
35 feeling Edward Crimsworth had for me—a feeling, in
a great measure, involuntary, and which was liable to
be excited by every, the most trifling movement,
look, or word of mine. My southern accent annoyed
him; the degree of education evinced in my language
40 irritated him; my punctuality, industry, and
accuracy, fixed his dislike, and gave it the high
flavour and poignant relish of envy; he feared that I
too should one day make a successful tradesman.
Had I been in anything inferior to him, he would not
45 have hated me so thoroughly, but I knew all that he
knew, and, what was worse, he suspected that I kept
the padlock of silence on mental wealth in which he
was no sharer. If he could have once placed me in a
ridiculous or mortifying position, he would have
50 forgiven me much, but I was guarded by three
faculties—Caution, Tact, Observation; and prowling
and prying as was Edward’s malignity, it could never
baffle the lynx-eyes of these, my natural sentinels.
Day by day did his malice watch my tact, hoping it
55 would sleep, and prepared to steal snake-like on its
slumber; but tact, if it be genuine, never sleeps.
I had received my first quarter’s wages, and was
returning to my lodgings, possessed heart and soul
with the pleasant feeling that the master who had
60 paid me grudged every penny of that hard‑earned
pittance—(I had long ceased to regard
Mr. Crimsworth as my brother—he was a hard,
grinding master; he wished to be an inexorable
tyrant: that was all). Thoughts, not varied but strong,
65 occupied my mind; two voices spoke within me;
again and again they uttered the same monotonous
phrases. One said: “William, your life is intolerable.”
The other: “What can you do to alter it?” I walked
fast, for it was a cold, frosty night in January; as I
70 approached my lodgings, I turned from a general
view of my affairs to the particular speculation as to
whether my fire would be out; looking towards the
window of my sitting-room, I saw no cheering red
gleam.

Q. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?

A.
Lines 28-31 (“the antipathy... life”)
B.
Lines 38-40 (“My southern... irritated him”)
C.
Lines 54-56 (“Day... slumber”)
D.
Lines 61-62 (“I had... brother”)

Detailed Solution for Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 7

Choice D is the best answer. In lines 61-62, the narrator states that he once regarded Mr. Crimsworth as his “brother.” This statement provides evidence that the narrator originally viewed Crimsworth as a sympathetic ally. Choices A, B, and C do not provide the best evidence for the claim that Crimsworth was a sympathetic ally. Rather, choices A, B, and C provide evidence of the hostile relationship that currently exists between the narrator and Crimsworth.

Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 8

Question is based on the following passage.
This passage is from Charlotte Brontë, The Professor, originally published in 1857.

No man likes to acknowledge that he has made a
mistake in the choice of his profession, and every
man, worthy of the name, will row long against wind
and tide before he allows himself to cry out, “I am
5 baffled!” and submits to be floated passively back to
land. From the first week of my residence in X—
felt my occupation irksome. The thing itself—the
work of copying and translating business-letters—
was a dry and tedious task enough, but had that been
10 all, I should long have borne with the nuisance; I am
not of an impatient nature, and influenced by the
double desire of getting my living and justifying to
myself and others the resolution I had taken to
become a tradesman, I should have endured in
15 silence the rust and cramp of my best faculties; I
should not have whispered, even inwardly, that I
longed for liberty; I should have pent in every sigh by
which my heart might have ventured to intimate its
distress under the closeness, smoke, monotony, and
20 joyless tumult of Bigben Close, and its panting desire
for freer and fresher scenes; I should have set up the
image of Duty, the fetish of Perseverance, in my
small bedroom at Mrs. King’s lodgings, and they two
should have been my household gods, from which
25 my darling, my cherished-in-secret, Imagination, the
tender and the mighty, should never, either by
softness or strength, have severed me. But this was
not all; the antipathy which had sprung up between
myself and my employer striking deeper root and
30 spreading denser shade daily, excluded me from
every glimpse of the sunshine of life; and I began to
feel like a plant growing in humid darkness out of the
slimy walls of a well.
Antipathy is the only word which can express the
35 feeling Edward Crimsworth had for me—a feeling, in
a great measure, involuntary, and which was liable to
be excited by every, the most trifling movement,
look, or word of mine. My southern accent annoyed
him; the degree of education evinced in my language
40 irritated him; my punctuality, industry, and
accuracy, fixed his dislike, and gave it the high
flavour and poignant relish of envy; he feared that I
too should one day make a successful tradesman.
Had I been in anything inferior to him, he would not
45 have hated me so thoroughly, but I knew all that he
knew, and, what was worse, he suspected that I kept
the padlock of silence on mental wealth in which he
was no sharer. If he could have once placed me in a
ridiculous or mortifying position, he would have
50 forgiven me much, but I was guarded by three
faculties—Caution, Tact, Observation; and prowling
and prying as was Edward’s malignity, it could never
baffle the lynx-eyes of these, my natural sentinels.
Day by day did his malice watch my tact, hoping it
55 would sleep, and prepared to steal snake-like on its
slumber; but tact, if it be genuine, never sleeps.
I had received my first quarter’s wages, and was
returning to my lodgings, possessed heart and soul
with the pleasant feeling that the master who had
60 paid me grudged every penny of that hard‑earned
pittance—(I had long ceased to regard
Mr. Crimsworth as my brother—he was a hard,
grinding master; he wished to be an inexorable
tyrant: that was all). Thoughts, not varied but strong,
65 occupied my mind; two voices spoke within me;
again and again they uttered the same monotonous
phrases. One said: “William, your life is intolerable.”
The other: “What can you do to alter it?” I walked
fast, for it was a cold, frosty night in January; as I
70 approached my lodgings, I turned from a general
view of my affairs to the particular speculation as to
whether my fire would be out; looking towards the
window of my sitting-room, I saw no cheering red
gleam.

Q. At the end of the second paragraph, the comparisons of abstract qualities to a lynx and a snake mainly have the effect of

A.
contrasting two hypothetical courses of action.
B.
conveying the ferocity of a resolution.
C.
suggesting the likelihood of an altercation.
D.
illustrating the nature of an adversarial relationship

Detailed Solution for Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 8

Choice D is the best answer. In lines 48-53, the narrator states that he exhibited “Caution, Tact, [and] Observation” at work and watched Mr. Crimsworth with “lynx-eyes.” The narrator acknowledges that Crimsworth was “prepared to steal snake-like” if he caught the narrator acting without tact or being disrespectful toward his superiors (lines 53-56). Thus, Crimsworth was trying to find a reason to place the narrator “in a ridiculous or mortifying position” (lines 49-50) by accusing the narrator of acting unprofessionally. The use of the lynx and snake serve to emphasize the narrator and Crimsworth’s adversarial, or hostile, relationship. Choices A and B are incorrect because the description of the lynx and snake does not contrast two hypothetical courses of action or convey a resolution. Choice C is incorrect because while lines 48-56 suggest that Crimsworth is trying to find a reason to fault the narrator’s work, they do not imply that an altercation, or heated dispute, between the narrator and Crimsworth is likely to occur.

Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 9

Question is based on the following passage.
This passage is from Charlotte Brontë, The Professor, originally published in 1857.

No man likes to acknowledge that he has made a
mistake in the choice of his profession, and every
man, worthy of the name, will row long against wind
and tide before he allows himself to cry out, “I am
5 baffled!” and submits to be floated passively back to
land. From the first week of my residence in X—
felt my occupation irksome. The thing itself—the
work of copying and translating business-letters—
was a dry and tedious task enough, but had that been
10 all, I should long have borne with the nuisance; I am
not of an impatient nature, and influenced by the
double desire of getting my living and justifying to
myself and others the resolution I had taken to
become a tradesman, I should have endured in
15 silence the rust and cramp of my best faculties; I
should not have whispered, even inwardly, that I
longed for liberty; I should have pent in every sigh by
which my heart might have ventured to intimate its
distress under the closeness, smoke, monotony, and
20 joyless tumult of Bigben Close, and its panting desire
for freer and fresher scenes; I should have set up the
image of Duty, the fetish of Perseverance, in my
small bedroom at Mrs. King’s lodgings, and they two
should have been my household gods, from which
25 my darling, my cherished-in-secret, Imagination, the
tender and the mighty, should never, either by
softness or strength, have severed me. But this was
not all; the antipathy which had sprung up between
myself and my employer striking deeper root and
30 spreading denser shade daily, excluded me from
every glimpse of the sunshine of life; and I began to
feel like a plant growing in humid darkness out of the
slimy walls of a well.
Antipathy is the only word which can express the
35 feeling Edward Crimsworth had for me—a feeling, in
a great measure, involuntary, and which was liable to
be excited by every, the most trifling movement,
look, or word of mine. My southern accent annoyed
him; the degree of education evinced in my language
40 irritated him; my punctuality, industry, and
accuracy, fixed his dislike, and gave it the high
flavour and poignant relish of envy; he feared that I
too should one day make a successful tradesman.
Had I been in anything inferior to him, he would not
45 have hated me so thoroughly, but I knew all that he
knew, and, what was worse, he suspected that I kept
the padlock of silence on mental wealth in which he
was no sharer. If he could have once placed me in a
ridiculous or mortifying position, he would have
50 forgiven me much, but I was guarded by three
faculties—Caution, Tact, Observation; and prowling
and prying as was Edward’s malignity, it could never
baffle the lynx-eyes of these, my natural sentinels.
Day by day did his malice watch my tact, hoping it
55 would sleep, and prepared to steal snake-like on its
slumber; but tact, if it be genuine, never sleeps.
I had received my first quarter’s wages, and was
returning to my lodgings, possessed heart and soul
with the pleasant feeling that the master who had
60 paid me grudged every penny of that hard‑earned
pittance—(I had long ceased to regard
Mr. Crimsworth as my brother—he was a hard,
grinding master; he wished to be an inexorable
tyrant: that was all). Thoughts, not varied but strong,
65 occupied my mind; two voices spoke within me;
again and again they uttered the same monotonous
phrases. One said: “William, your life is intolerable.”
The other: “What can you do to alter it?” I walked
fast, for it was a cold, frosty night in January; as I
70 approached my lodgings, I turned from a general
view of my affairs to the particular speculation as to
whether my fire would be out; looking towards the
window of my sitting-room, I saw no cheering red
gleam.

Q. The passage indicates that, after a long day of work, the narrator sometimes found his living quarters to be

A.
treacherous.
B.
dreary.
C.
predictable.
D.
intolerable.

Detailed Solution for Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 9

Choice B is the best answer. Lines 73-74 state that the narrator noticed there was no “cheering red gleam” of fire in his sitting-room fireplace. The lack of a “cheering,” or comforting, fire suggests that the narrator sometimes found his lodgings to be dreary or bleak. Choices A and D are incorrect because the narrator does not find his living quarters to be treacherous or intolerable. Choice C is incorrect because while the narrator is walking home he speculates about the presence of a fire in his sitting-room’s fireplace (lines 69-74), which suggests that he could not predict the state of his living quarters.

Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 10

Question is based on the following passage.
This passage is from Charlotte Brontë, The Professor, originally published in 1857.

No man likes to acknowledge that he has made a
mistake in the choice of his profession, and every
man, worthy of the name, will row long against wind
and tide before he allows himself to cry out, “I am
5 baffled!” and submits to be floated passively back to
land. From the first week of my residence in X—
felt my occupation irksome. The thing itself—the
work of copying and translating business-letters—
was a dry and tedious task enough, but had that been
10 all, I should long have borne with the nuisance; I am
not of an impatient nature, and influenced by the
double desire of getting my living and justifying to
myself and others the resolution I had taken to
become a tradesman, I should have endured in
15 silence the rust and cramp of my best faculties; I
should not have whispered, even inwardly, that I
longed for liberty; I should have pent in every sigh by
which my heart might have ventured to intimate its
distress under the closeness, smoke, monotony, and
20 joyless tumult of Bigben Close, and its panting desire
for freer and fresher scenes; I should have set up the
image of Duty, the fetish of Perseverance, in my
small bedroom at Mrs. King’s lodgings, and they two
should have been my household gods, from which
25 my darling, my cherished-in-secret, Imagination, the
tender and the mighty, should never, either by
softness or strength, have severed me. But this was
not all; the antipathy which had sprung up between
myself and my employer striking deeper root and
30 spreading denser shade daily, excluded me from
every glimpse of the sunshine of life; and I began to
feel like a plant growing in humid darkness out of the
slimy walls of a well.
Antipathy is the only word which can express the
35 feeling Edward Crimsworth had for me—a feeling, in
a great measure, involuntary, and which was liable to
be excited by every, the most trifling movement,
look, or word of mine. My southern accent annoyed
him; the degree of education evinced in my language
40 irritated him; my punctuality, industry, and
accuracy, fixed his dislike, and gave it the high
flavour and poignant relish of envy; he feared that I
too should one day make a successful tradesman.
Had I been in anything inferior to him, he would not
45 have hated me so thoroughly, but I knew all that he
knew, and, what was worse, he suspected that I kept
the padlock of silence on mental wealth in which he
was no sharer. If he could have once placed me in a
ridiculous or mortifying position, he would have
50 forgiven me much, but I was guarded by three
faculties—Caution, Tact, Observation; and prowling
and prying as was Edward’s malignity, it could never
baffle the lynx-eyes of these, my natural sentinels.
Day by day did his malice watch my tact, hoping it
55 would sleep, and prepared to steal snake-like on its
slumber; but tact, if it be genuine, never sleeps.
I had received my first quarter’s wages, and was
returning to my lodgings, possessed heart and soul
with the pleasant feeling that the master who had
60 paid me grudged every penny of that hard‑earned
pittance—(I had long ceased to regard
Mr. Crimsworth as my brother—he was a hard,
grinding master; he wished to be an inexorable
tyrant: that was all). Thoughts, not varied but strong,
65 occupied my mind; two voices spoke within me;
again and again they uttered the same monotonous
phrases. One said: “William, your life is intolerable.”
The other: “What can you do to alter it?” I walked
fast, for it was a cold, frosty night in January; as I
70 approached my lodgings, I turned from a general
view of my affairs to the particular speculation as to
whether my fire would be out; looking towards the
window of my sitting-room, I saw no cheering red
gleam.

Q. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?

A.
Lines 17-21 (“I should... scenes”)
B.
Lines 21-23 (“I should... lodgings”)
C.
Lines 64-67 (“Thoughts... phrases”)
D.
Lines 68-74 (“I walked... gleam”)

Detailed Solution for Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 10

Choice D is the best answer. In lines 68-74, the narrator states that he did not see the “cheering” glow of a fire in his sitting-room fireplace. This statement provides evidence that the narrator views his lodgings as dreary or bleak. Choices A, B, and C do not provide the best evidence that the narrator views his lodgings as dreary. Choices A and C are incorrect because they do not provide the narrator’s opinion of his lodgings, and choice B is incorrect because lines 21-23 describe the narrator’s lodgings only as “small.”

Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 11

Question is based on the following passage and supplementary material.

Some of the largest ocean waves in the world are
nearly impossible to see. Unlike other large waves,
these rollers, called internal waves, do not ride the
ocean surface. Instead, they move underwater,
5 undetectable without the use of satellite imagery or
sophisticated monitoring equipment. Despite their
hidden nature, internal waves are fundamental parts
of ocean water dynamics, transferring heat to the
ocean depths and bringing up cold water from below.
10 And they can reach staggering heights—some as tall
as skyscrapers.
Because these waves are involved in ocean mixing
and thus the transfer of heat, understanding them is
crucial to global climate modeling, says Tom
15 Peacock, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. Most models fail to take internal
waves into account. “If we want to have more and
more accurate climate models, we have to be able to
capture processes such as this,” Peacock says.
20 Peacock and his colleagues tried to do just that.
Their study, published in November in Geophysical
Research Letters, focused on internal waves generated
in the Luzon Strait, which separates Taiwan and the
Philippines. Internal waves in this region, thought to
25 be some of the largest in the world, can reach about
500 meters high. “That’s the same height as the
Freedom Tower that’s just been built in New York,”
Peacock says.
Although scientists knew of this phenomenon in
30 the South China Sea and beyond, they didn’t know
exactly how internal waves formed. To find out,
Peacock and a team of researchers from M.I.T. and
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution worked with
France’s National Center for Scientific Research
35 using a giant facility there called the Coriolis
Platform. The rotating platform, about 15 meters
(49.2 feet) in diameter, turns at variable speeds and
can simulate Earth’s rotation. It also has walls, which
means scientists can fill it with water and create
40 accurate, large-scale simulations of various
oceanographic scenarios.
Peacock and his team built a carbon-fiber resin
scale model of the Luzon Strait, including the islands
and surrounding ocean floor topography. Then they
45 filled the platform with water of varying salinity to
replicate the different densities found at the strait,
with denser, saltier water below and lighter, less
briny water above. Small particles were added to the
solution and illuminated with lights from below in
50 order to track how the liquid moved. Finally, they
re-created tides using two large plungers to see how
the internal waves themselves formed.
The Luzon Strait’s underwater topography, with a
distinct double-ridge shape, turns out to be
55 responsible for generating the underwater waves.
As the tide rises and falls and water moves through
the strait, colder, denser water is pushed up over the
ridges into warmer, less dense layers above it.
This action results in bumps of colder water trailed
60 by warmer water that generate an internal wave.
As these waves move toward land, they become
steeper—much the same way waves at the beach
become taller before they hit the shore—until they
break on a continental shelf.
65 The researchers were also able to devise a
mathematical model that describes the movement
and formation of these waves. Whereas the model is
specific to the Luzon Strait, it can still help
researchers understand how internal waves are
70 generated in other places around the world.
Eventually, this information will be incorporated into
global climate models, making them more accurate.
“It’s very clear, within the context of these [global
climate] models, that internal waves play a role in
75 driving ocean circulations,” Peacock says.

Q. The first paragraph serves mainly to

A.
explain how a scientific device is used.
B.
note a common misconception about an event.
C.
describe a natural phenomenon and address itsimportance.
D.
present a recent study and summarize itsfindings.

Detailed Solution for Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 11

Choice C is the best answer. In the first paragraph, the author identifies the natural phenomenon “internal waves” (line 3), and explains why they are important: “internal waves are fundamental parts of ocean water dynamics, transferring heat to the ocean depths and bringing up cold water from below” (lines 7-9). Choices A, B, and D are incorrect because they do not identify the main purpose of the first paragraph, as that paragraph does not focus on a scientific device, a common misconception, or a recent study

Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 12

Question is based on the following passage and supplementary material.

Some of the largest ocean waves in the world are
nearly impossible to see. Unlike other large waves,
these rollers, called internal waves, do not ride the
ocean surface. Instead, they move underwater,
5 undetectable without the use of satellite imagery or
sophisticated monitoring equipment. Despite their
hidden nature, internal waves are fundamental parts
of ocean water dynamics, transferring heat to the
ocean depths and bringing up cold water from below.
10 And they can reach staggering heights—some as tall
as skyscrapers.
Because these waves are involved in ocean mixing
and thus the transfer of heat, understanding them is
crucial to global climate modeling, says Tom
15 Peacock, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. Most models fail to take internal
waves into account. “If we want to have more and
more accurate climate models, we have to be able to
capture processes such as this,” Peacock says.
20 Peacock and his colleagues tried to do just that.
Their study, published in November in Geophysical
Research Letters, focused on internal waves generated
in the Luzon Strait, which separates Taiwan and the
Philippines. Internal waves in this region, thought to
25 be some of the largest in the world, can reach about
500 meters high. “That’s the same height as the
Freedom Tower that’s just been built in New York,”
Peacock says.
Although scientists knew of this phenomenon in
30 the South China Sea and beyond, they didn’t know
exactly how internal waves formed. To find out,
Peacock and a team of researchers from M.I.T. and
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution worked with
France’s National Center for Scientific Research
35 using a giant facility there called the Coriolis
Platform. The rotating platform, about 15 meters
(49.2 feet) in diameter, turns at variable speeds and
can simulate Earth’s rotation. It also has walls, which
means scientists can fill it with water and create
40 accurate, large-scale simulations of various
oceanographic scenarios.
Peacock and his team built a carbon-fiber resin
scale model of the Luzon Strait, including the islands
and surrounding ocean floor topography. Then they
45 filled the platform with water of varying salinity to
replicate the different densities found at the strait,
with denser, saltier water below and lighter, less
briny water above. Small particles were added to the
solution and illuminated with lights from below in
50 order to track how the liquid moved. Finally, they
re-created tides using two large plungers to see how
the internal waves themselves formed.
The Luzon Strait’s underwater topography, with a
distinct double-ridge shape, turns out to be
55 responsible for generating the underwater waves.
As the tide rises and falls and water moves through
the strait, colder, denser water is pushed up over the
ridges into warmer, less dense layers above it.
This action results in bumps of colder water trailed
60 by warmer water that generate an internal wave.
As these waves move toward land, they become
steeper—much the same way waves at the beach
become taller before they hit the shore—until they
break on a continental shelf.
65 The researchers were also able to devise a
mathematical model that describes the movement
and formation of these waves. Whereas the model is
specific to the Luzon Strait, it can still help
researchers understand how internal waves are
70 generated in other places around the world.
Eventually, this information will be incorporated into
global climate models, making them more accurate.
“It’s very clear, within the context of these [global
climate] models, that internal waves play a role in
75 driving ocean circulations,” Peacock says.

Q. As used in line 19, “capture” is closest in meaning to

A.
control.
B.
record.
C.
secure.
D.
absorb.

Detailed Solution for Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 12

Choice B is the best answer. In lines 17-19, researcher Tom Peacock argues that in order to create precise global climate models, scientists must be able to “capture processes” such as how internal waves are formed. In this context, to “capture” a process means to record it for scientific study. Choices A, C, and D are incorrect because in this context “capture” does not mean to control, secure, or absorb.

Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 13

Question is based on the following passage and supplementary material.

Some of the largest ocean waves in the world are
nearly impossible to see. Unlike other large waves,
these rollers, called internal waves, do not ride the
ocean surface. Instead, they move underwater,
5 undetectable without the use of satellite imagery or
sophisticated monitoring equipment. Despite their
hidden nature, internal waves are fundamental parts
of ocean water dynamics, transferring heat to the
ocean depths and bringing up cold water from below.
10 And they can reach staggering heights—some as tall
as skyscrapers.
Because these waves are involved in ocean mixing
and thus the transfer of heat, understanding them is
crucial to global climate modeling, says Tom
15 Peacock, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. Most models fail to take internal
waves into account. “If we want to have more and
more accurate climate models, we have to be able to
capture processes such as this,” Peacock says.
20 Peacock and his colleagues tried to do just that.
Their study, published in November in Geophysical
Research Letters, focused on internal waves generated
in the Luzon Strait, which separates Taiwan and the
Philippines. Internal waves in this region, thought to
25 be some of the largest in the world, can reach about
500 meters high. “That’s the same height as the
Freedom Tower that’s just been built in New York,”
Peacock says.
Although scientists knew of this phenomenon in
30 the South China Sea and beyond, they didn’t know
exactly how internal waves formed. To find out,
Peacock and a team of researchers from M.I.T. and
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution worked with
France’s National Center for Scientific Research
35 using a giant facility there called the Coriolis
Platform. The rotating platform, about 15 meters
(49.2 feet) in diameter, turns at variable speeds and
can simulate Earth’s rotation. It also has walls, which
means scientists can fill it with water and create
40 accurate, large-scale simulations of various
oceanographic scenarios.
Peacock and his team built a carbon-fiber resin
scale model of the Luzon Strait, including the islands
and surrounding ocean floor topography. Then they
45 filled the platform with water of varying salinity to
replicate the different densities found at the strait,
with denser, saltier water below and lighter, less
briny water above. Small particles were added to the
solution and illuminated with lights from below in
50 order to track how the liquid moved. Finally, they
re-created tides using two large plungers to see how
the internal waves themselves formed.
The Luzon Strait’s underwater topography, with a
distinct double-ridge shape, turns out to be
55 responsible for generating the underwater waves.
As the tide rises and falls and water moves through
the strait, colder, denser water is pushed up over the
ridges into warmer, less dense layers above it.
This action results in bumps of colder water trailed
60 by warmer water that generate an internal wave.
As these waves move toward land, they become
steeper—much the same way waves at the beach
become taller before they hit the shore—until they
break on a continental shelf.
65 The researchers were also able to devise a
mathematical model that describes the movement
and formation of these waves. Whereas the model is
specific to the Luzon Strait, it can still help
researchers understand how internal waves are
70 generated in other places around the world.
Eventually, this information will be incorporated into
global climate models, making them more accurate.
“It’s very clear, within the context of these [global
climate] models, that internal waves play a role in
75 driving ocean circulations,” Peacock says.

Q. According to Peacock, the ability to monitor internal waves is significant primarily because

A.
it will allow scientists to verify the maximum height of such waves.
B.
it will allow researchers to shift their focus to improving the quality of satellite images.
C.
the study of wave patterns will enable regions to predict and prevent coastal damage.
D.
the study of such waves will inform the development of key scientific models.

Detailed Solution for Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 13

Choice D is the best answer. In lines 17-19, researcher Tom Peacock argues that scientists need to “capture processes” of internal waves to develop “more and more accurate climate models.” Peacock is suggesting that studying internal waves will inform the development of scientific models. Choices A, B, and C are incorrect because Peacock does not state that monitoring internal waves will allow people to verify wave heights, improve satellite image quality, or prevent coastal damage.

Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 14

Question is based on the following passage and supplementary material.

Some of the largest ocean waves in the world are
nearly impossible to see. Unlike other large waves,
these rollers, called internal waves, do not ride the
ocean surface. Instead, they move underwater,
5 undetectable without the use of satellite imagery or
sophisticated monitoring equipment. Despite their
hidden nature, internal waves are fundamental parts
of ocean water dynamics, transferring heat to the
ocean depths and bringing up cold water from below.
10 And they can reach staggering heights—some as tall
as skyscrapers.
Because these waves are involved in ocean mixing
and thus the transfer of heat, understanding them is
crucial to global climate modeling, says Tom
15 Peacock, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. Most models fail to take internal
waves into account. “If we want to have more and
more accurate climate models, we have to be able to
capture processes such as this,” Peacock says.
20 Peacock and his colleagues tried to do just that.
Their study, published in November in Geophysical
Research Letters, focused on internal waves generated
in the Luzon Strait, which separates Taiwan and the
Philippines. Internal waves in this region, thought to
25 be some of the largest in the world, can reach about
500 meters high. “That’s the same height as the
Freedom Tower that’s just been built in New York,”
Peacock says.
Although scientists knew of this phenomenon in
30 the South China Sea and beyond, they didn’t know
exactly how internal waves formed. To find out,
Peacock and a team of researchers from M.I.T. and
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution worked with
France’s National Center for Scientific Research
35 using a giant facility there called the Coriolis
Platform. The rotating platform, about 15 meters
(49.2 feet) in diameter, turns at variable speeds and
can simulate Earth’s rotation. It also has walls, which
means scientists can fill it with water and create
40 accurate, large-scale simulations of various
oceanographic scenarios.
Peacock and his team built a carbon-fiber resin
scale model of the Luzon Strait, including the islands
and surrounding ocean floor topography. Then they
45 filled the platform with water of varying salinity to
replicate the different densities found at the strait,
with denser, saltier water below and lighter, less
briny water above. Small particles were added to the
solution and illuminated with lights from below in
50 order to track how the liquid moved. Finally, they
re-created tides using two large plungers to see how
the internal waves themselves formed.
The Luzon Strait’s underwater topography, with a
distinct double-ridge shape, turns out to be
55 responsible for generating the underwater waves.
As the tide rises and falls and water moves through
the strait, colder, denser water is pushed up over the
ridges into warmer, less dense layers above it.
This action results in bumps of colder water trailed
60 by warmer water that generate an internal wave.
As these waves move toward land, they become
steeper—much the same way waves at the beach
become taller before they hit the shore—until they
break on a continental shelf.
65 The researchers were also able to devise a
mathematical model that describes the movement
and formation of these waves. Whereas the model is
specific to the Luzon Strait, it can still help
researchers understand how internal waves are
70 generated in other places around the world.
Eventually, this information will be incorporated into
global climate models, making them more accurate.
“It’s very clear, within the context of these [global
climate] models, that internal waves play a role in
75 driving ocean circulations,” Peacock says.

Q. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?

A.
Lines 1-2 (“Some... see”)
B.
Lines 4-6 (“they... equipment”)
C.
Lines 17-19 (“If... this”)
D.
Lines 24-26 (“Internal... high”)

Detailed Solution for Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 14

Choice C is the best answer. In lines 17-19, researcher Tom Peacock provides evidence that studying internal waves will inform the development of key scientific models, such as “more accurate climate models.” Choices A, B, and D are incorrect because they do not provide the best evidence that studying internal waves will inform the development of key scientific models; rather, they provide general information about internal waves.

Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 15

Question is based on the following passage and supplementary material.

Some of the largest ocean waves in the world are
nearly impossible to see. Unlike other large waves,
these rollers, called internal waves, do not ride the
ocean surface. Instead, they move underwater,
5 undetectable without the use of satellite imagery or
sophisticated monitoring equipment. Despite their
hidden nature, internal waves are fundamental parts
of ocean water dynamics, transferring heat to the
ocean depths and bringing up cold water from below.
10 And they can reach staggering heights—some as tall
as skyscrapers.
Because these waves are involved in ocean mixing
and thus the transfer of heat, understanding them is
crucial to global climate modeling, says Tom
15 Peacock, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. Most models fail to take internal
waves into account. “If we want to have more and
more accurate climate models, we have to be able to
capture processes such as this,” Peacock says.
20 Peacock and his colleagues tried to do just that.
Their study, published in November in Geophysical
Research Letters, focused on internal waves generated
in the Luzon Strait, which separates Taiwan and the
Philippines. Internal waves in this region, thought to
25 be some of the largest in the world, can reach about
500 meters high. “That’s the same height as the
Freedom Tower that’s just been built in New York,”
Peacock says.
Although scientists knew of this phenomenon in
30 the South China Sea and beyond, they didn’t know
exactly how internal waves formed. To find out,
Peacock and a team of researchers from M.I.T. and
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution worked with
France’s National Center for Scientific Research
35 using a giant facility there called the Coriolis
Platform. The rotating platform, about 15 meters
(49.2 feet) in diameter, turns at variable speeds and
can simulate Earth’s rotation. It also has walls, which
means scientists can fill it with water and create
40 accurate, large-scale simulations of various
oceanographic scenarios.
Peacock and his team built a carbon-fiber resin
scale model of the Luzon Strait, including the islands
and surrounding ocean floor topography. Then they
45 filled the platform with water of varying salinity to
replicate the different densities found at the strait,
with denser, saltier water below and lighter, less
briny water above. Small particles were added to the
solution and illuminated with lights from below in
50 order to track how the liquid moved. Finally, they
re-created tides using two large plungers to see how
the internal waves themselves formed.
The Luzon Strait’s underwater topography, with a
distinct double-ridge shape, turns out to be
55 responsible for generating the underwater waves.
As the tide rises and falls and water moves through
the strait, colder, denser water is pushed up over the
ridges into warmer, less dense layers above it.
This action results in bumps of colder water trailed
60 by warmer water that generate an internal wave.
As these waves move toward land, they become
steeper—much the same way waves at the beach
become taller before they hit the shore—until they
break on a continental shelf.
65 The researchers were also able to devise a
mathematical model that describes the movement
and formation of these waves. Whereas the model is
specific to the Luzon Strait, it can still help
researchers understand how internal waves are
70 generated in other places around the world.
Eventually, this information will be incorporated into
global climate models, making them more accurate.
“It’s very clear, within the context of these [global
climate] models, that internal waves play a role in
75 driving ocean circulations,” Peacock says.

Q. As used in line 65, “devise” most nearly means

A.
create.
B.
solve.
C.
imagine.
D.
begin.

Detailed Solution for Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 15

Choice A is the best answer. In lines 65-67, the author notes that Tom Peacock and his team “were able to devise a mathematical model that describes the movement and formation of these waves.” In this context, the researchers devised, or created, a mathematical model. Choices B, C, and D are incorrect because in this context “devise” does not mean to solve, imagine, or begin.

Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 16

Question is based on the following passage and supplementary material.

Some of the largest ocean waves in the world are
nearly impossible to see. Unlike other large waves,
these rollers, called internal waves, do not ride the
ocean surface. Instead, they move underwater,
5 undetectable without the use of satellite imagery or
sophisticated monitoring equipment. Despite their
hidden nature, internal waves are fundamental parts
of ocean water dynamics, transferring heat to the
ocean depths and bringing up cold water from below.
10 And they can reach staggering heights—some as tall
as skyscrapers.
Because these waves are involved in ocean mixing
and thus the transfer of heat, understanding them is
crucial to global climate modeling, says Tom
15 Peacock, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. Most models fail to take internal
waves into account. “If we want to have more and
more accurate climate models, we have to be able to
capture processes such as this,” Peacock says.
20 Peacock and his colleagues tried to do just that.
Their study, published in November in Geophysical
Research Letters, focused on internal waves generated
in the Luzon Strait, which separates Taiwan and the
Philippines. Internal waves in this region, thought to
25 be some of the largest in the world, can reach about
500 meters high. “That’s the same height as the
Freedom Tower that’s just been built in New York,”
Peacock says.
Although scientists knew of this phenomenon in
30 the South China Sea and beyond, they didn’t know
exactly how internal waves formed. To find out,
Peacock and a team of researchers from M.I.T. and
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution worked with
France’s National Center for Scientific Research
35 using a giant facility there called the Coriolis
Platform. The rotating platform, about 15 meters
(49.2 feet) in diameter, turns at variable speeds and
can simulate Earth’s rotation. It also has walls, which
means scientists can fill it with water and create
40 accurate, large-scale simulations of various
oceanographic scenarios.
Peacock and his team built a carbon-fiber resin
scale model of the Luzon Strait, including the islands
and surrounding ocean floor topography. Then they
45 filled the platform with water of varying salinity to
replicate the different densities found at the strait,
with denser, saltier water below and lighter, less
briny water above. Small particles were added to the
solution and illuminated with lights from below in
50 order to track how the liquid moved. Finally, they
re-created tides using two large plungers to see how
the internal waves themselves formed.
The Luzon Strait’s underwater topography, with a
distinct double-ridge shape, turns out to be
55 responsible for generating the underwater waves.
As the tide rises and falls and water moves through
the strait, colder, denser water is pushed up over the
ridges into warmer, less dense layers above it.
This action results in bumps of colder water trailed
60 by warmer water that generate an internal wave.
As these waves move toward land, they become
steeper—much the same way waves at the beach
become taller before they hit the shore—until they
break on a continental shelf.
65 The researchers were also able to devise a
mathematical model that describes the movement
and formation of these waves. Whereas the model is
specific to the Luzon Strait, it can still help
researchers understand how internal waves are
70 generated in other places around the world.
Eventually, this information will be incorporated into
global climate models, making them more accurate.
“It’s very clear, within the context of these [global
climate] models, that internal waves play a role in
75 driving ocean circulations,” Peacock says.

Q. Based on information in the passage, it can reasonably be inferred that all internal waves

A.
reach approximately the same height even though the locations and depths of continental shelves vary.
B.
may be caused by similar factors but are influenced by the distinct topographies of different regions.
C.
can be traced to inconsistencies in the tidal patterns of deep ocean water located near islands.
D.
are generated by the movement of dense water over a relatively flat section of the ocean floor.

Detailed Solution for Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 16

Choice B is the best answer. Tom Peacock and his team created a model of the “Luzon’s Strait’s underwater topography” and determined that its “distinct double-ridge shape . . . [is] responsible for generating the underwater [internal] waves” (lines 53-55). The author notes that this model describes only internal waves in the Luzon Strait but that the team’s findings may “help researchers understand how internal waves are generated in other places around the world” (lines 67-70). The author’s claim suggests that while internal waves in the Luzon Strait are “some of the largest in the world” (line 25) due to the region’s topography, internal waves occurring in other regions may be caused by some similar factors. Choice A is incorrect because the author notes that the internal waves in the Luzon Strait are “some of the largest in the world” (line 25), which suggests that internal waves reach varying heights. Choices C and D are incorrect because they are not supported by the researchers’ findings.

Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 17

Question is based on the following passage and supplementary material.

Some of the largest ocean waves in the world are
nearly impossible to see. Unlike other large waves,
these rollers, called internal waves, do not ride the
ocean surface. Instead, they move underwater,
5 undetectable without the use of satellite imagery or
sophisticated monitoring equipment. Despite their
hidden nature, internal waves are fundamental parts
of ocean water dynamics, transferring heat to the
ocean depths and bringing up cold water from below.
10 And they can reach staggering heights—some as tall
as skyscrapers.
Because these waves are involved in ocean mixing
and thus the transfer of heat, understanding them is
crucial to global climate modeling, says Tom
15 Peacock, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. Most models fail to take internal
waves into account. “If we want to have more and
more accurate climate models, we have to be able to
capture processes such as this,” Peacock says.
20 Peacock and his colleagues tried to do just that.
Their study, published in November in Geophysical
Research Letters, focused on internal waves generated
in the Luzon Strait, which separates Taiwan and the
Philippines. Internal waves in this region, thought to
25 be some of the largest in the world, can reach about
500 meters high. “That’s the same height as the
Freedom Tower that’s just been built in New York,”
Peacock says.
Although scientists knew of this phenomenon in
30 the South China Sea and beyond, they didn’t know
exactly how internal waves formed. To find out,
Peacock and a team of researchers from M.I.T. and
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution worked with
France’s National Center for Scientific Research
35 using a giant facility there called the Coriolis
Platform. The rotating platform, about 15 meters
(49.2 feet) in diameter, turns at variable speeds and
can simulate Earth’s rotation. It also has walls, which
means scientists can fill it with water and create
40 accurate, large-scale simulations of various
oceanographic scenarios.
Peacock and his team built a carbon-fiber resin
scale model of the Luzon Strait, including the islands
and surrounding ocean floor topography. Then they
45 filled the platform with water of varying salinity to
replicate the different densities found at the strait,
with denser, saltier water below and lighter, less
briny water above. Small particles were added to the
solution and illuminated with lights from below in
50 order to track how the liquid moved. Finally, they
re-created tides using two large plungers to see how
the internal waves themselves formed.
The Luzon Strait’s underwater topography, with a
distinct double-ridge shape, turns out to be
55 responsible for generating the underwater waves.
As the tide rises and falls and water moves through
the strait, colder, denser water is pushed up over the
ridges into warmer, less dense layers above it.
This action results in bumps of colder water trailed
60 by warmer water that generate an internal wave.
As these waves move toward land, they become
steeper—much the same way waves at the beach
become taller before they hit the shore—until they
break on a continental shelf.
65 The researchers were also able to devise a
mathematical model that describes the movement
and formation of these waves. Whereas the model is
specific to the Luzon Strait, it can still help
researchers understand how internal waves are
70 generated in other places around the world.
Eventually, this information will be incorporated into
global climate models, making them more accurate.
“It’s very clear, within the context of these [global
climate] models, that internal waves play a role in
75 driving ocean circulations,” Peacock says.

Q. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?

A.
Lines 29-31 (“Although... formed”)
B.
Lines 56-58 (“As the... it”)
C.
Lines 61-64 (“As these... shelf”)
D.
Lines 67-70 (“Whereas... world”)

Detailed Solution for Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 17

Choice D is the best answer. In lines 67-70, the author provides evidence that, while the researchers’ findings suggest the internal waves in the Luzon Strait are influenced by the region’s topography, the findings may “help researchers understand how internal waves are generated in other places around the world.” This statement suggests that all internal waves may be caused by some similar factors. Choices A, B, and C are incorrect because they do not provide the best evidence that internal waves are caused by similar factors but influenced by the distinct topographies of different regions. Rather, choices A, B, and C reference general information about internal waves or focus solely on those that occur in the Luzon Strait.

Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 18

Question is based on the following passage and supplementary material.

Some of the largest ocean waves in the world are
nearly impossible to see. Unlike other large waves,
these rollers, called internal waves, do not ride the
ocean surface. Instead, they move underwater,
5 undetectable without the use of satellite imagery or
sophisticated monitoring equipment. Despite their
hidden nature, internal waves are fundamental parts
of ocean water dynamics, transferring heat to the
ocean depths and bringing up cold water from below.
10 And they can reach staggering heights—some as tall
as skyscrapers.
Because these waves are involved in ocean mixing
and thus the transfer of heat, understanding them is
crucial to global climate modeling, says Tom
15 Peacock, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. Most models fail to take internal
waves into account. “If we want to have more and
more accurate climate models, we have to be able to
capture processes such as this,” Peacock says.
20 Peacock and his colleagues tried to do just that.
Their study, published in November in Geophysical
Research Letters, focused on internal waves generated
in the Luzon Strait, which separates Taiwan and the
Philippines. Internal waves in this region, thought to
25 be some of the largest in the world, can reach about
500 meters high. “That’s the same height as the
Freedom Tower that’s just been built in New York,”
Peacock says.
Although scientists knew of this phenomenon in
30 the South China Sea and beyond, they didn’t know
exactly how internal waves formed. To find out,
Peacock and a team of researchers from M.I.T. and
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution worked with
France’s National Center for Scientific Research
35 using a giant facility there called the Coriolis
Platform. The rotating platform, about 15 meters
(49.2 feet) in diameter, turns at variable speeds and
can simulate Earth’s rotation. It also has walls, which
means scientists can fill it with water and create
40 accurate, large-scale simulations of various
oceanographic scenarios.
Peacock and his team built a carbon-fiber resin
scale model of the Luzon Strait, including the islands
and surrounding ocean floor topography. Then they
45 filled the platform with water of varying salinity to
replicate the different densities found at the strait,
with denser, saltier water below and lighter, less
briny water above. Small particles were added to the
solution and illuminated with lights from below in
50 order to track how the liquid moved. Finally, they
re-created tides using two large plungers to see how
the internal waves themselves formed.
The Luzon Strait’s underwater topography, with a
distinct double-ridge shape, turns out to be
55 responsible for generating the underwater waves.
As the tide rises and falls and water moves through
the strait, colder, denser water is pushed up over the
ridges into warmer, less dense layers above it.
This action results in bumps of colder water trailed
60 by warmer water that generate an internal wave.
As these waves move toward land, they become
steeper—much the same way waves at the beach
become taller before they hit the shore—until they
break on a continental shelf.
65 The researchers were also able to devise a
mathematical model that describes the movement
and formation of these waves. Whereas the model is
specific to the Luzon Strait, it can still help
researchers understand how internal waves are
70 generated in other places around the world.
Eventually, this information will be incorporated into
global climate models, making them more accurate.
“It’s very clear, within the context of these [global
climate] models, that internal waves play a role in
75 driving ocean circulations,” Peacock says.

Q. In the graph, which isotherm displays an increase in depth below the surface during the period 19:12 to 20:24?

A.
9°C
B.
10°C
C.
11°C
D.
13°C

Detailed Solution for Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 18

Choice D is the best answer. During the period 19:12 to 20:24, the graph shows the 13°C isotherm increasing in depth from about 20 to 40 meters. Choices A, B, and C are incorrect because during the time period 19:12 to 20:24 the 9°C, 10°C, and 11°C isotherms all decreased in depth.

Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 19

Question is based on the following passage and supplementary material.

Some of the largest ocean waves in the world are
nearly impossible to see. Unlike other large waves,
these rollers, called internal waves, do not ride the
ocean surface. Instead, they move underwater,
5 undetectable without the use of satellite imagery or
sophisticated monitoring equipment. Despite their
hidden nature, internal waves are fundamental parts
of ocean water dynamics, transferring heat to the
ocean depths and bringing up cold water from below.
10 And they can reach staggering heights—some as tall
as skyscrapers.
Because these waves are involved in ocean mixing
and thus the transfer of heat, understanding them is
crucial to global climate modeling, says Tom
15 Peacock, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. Most models fail to take internal
waves into account. “If we want to have more and
more accurate climate models, we have to be able to
capture processes such as this,” Peacock says.
20 Peacock and his colleagues tried to do just that.
Their study, published in November in Geophysical
Research Letters, focused on internal waves generated
in the Luzon Strait, which separates Taiwan and the
Philippines. Internal waves in this region, thought to
25 be some of the largest in the world, can reach about
500 meters high. “That’s the same height as the
Freedom Tower that’s just been built in New York,”
Peacock says.
Although scientists knew of this phenomenon in
30 the South China Sea and beyond, they didn’t know
exactly how internal waves formed. To find out,
Peacock and a team of researchers from M.I.T. and
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution worked with
France’s National Center for Scientific Research
35 using a giant facility there called the Coriolis
Platform. The rotating platform, about 15 meters
(49.2 feet) in diameter, turns at variable speeds and
can simulate Earth’s rotation. It also has walls, which
means scientists can fill it with water and create
40 accurate, large-scale simulations of various
oceanographic scenarios.
Peacock and his team built a carbon-fiber resin
scale model of the Luzon Strait, including the islands
and surrounding ocean floor topography. Then they
45 filled the platform with water of varying salinity to
replicate the different densities found at the strait,
with denser, saltier water below and lighter, less
briny water above. Small particles were added to the
solution and illuminated with lights from below in
50 order to track how the liquid moved. Finally, they
re-created tides using two large plungers to see how
the internal waves themselves formed.
The Luzon Strait’s underwater topography, with a
distinct double-ridge shape, turns out to be
55 responsible for generating the underwater waves.
As the tide rises and falls and water moves through
the strait, colder, denser water is pushed up over the
ridges into warmer, less dense layers above it.
This action results in bumps of colder water trailed
60 by warmer water that generate an internal wave.
As these waves move toward land, they become
steeper—much the same way waves at the beach
become taller before they hit the shore—until they
break on a continental shelf.
65 The researchers were also able to devise a
mathematical model that describes the movement
and formation of these waves. Whereas the model is
specific to the Luzon Strait, it can still help
researchers understand how internal waves are
70 generated in other places around the world.
Eventually, this information will be incorporated into
global climate models, making them more accurate.
“It’s very clear, within the context of these [global
climate] models, that internal waves play a role in
75 driving ocean circulations,” Peacock says.

Q. Which concept is supported by the passage and by the information in the graph?

A.
Internal waves cause water of varying salinity to mix.
B.
Internal waves push denser water above layers of less dense water.
C.
Internal waves push bands of cold water above bands of warmer water.
D.
Internal waves do not rise to break the ocean’s surface.

Detailed Solution for Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 19

Choice D is the best answer. In lines 3-6, the author notes that internal waves “do not ride the ocean surface” but “move underwater, undetectable without the use of satellite imagery or sophisticated monitoring equipment.” The graph shows that the isotherms in an internal wave never reach the ocean’s surface, as the isotherms do not record a depth of 0. Choice A is incorrect because the graph provides no information about salinity. Choice B is incorrect because the graph shows layers of less dense water (which, based on the passage, are warmer) riding above layers of denser water (which, based on the passage, are cooler). Choice C is incorrect because the graph shows that internal waves push isotherms of warmer water above bands of colder water.

Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 20

Question is based on the following passage and supplementary material.

Some of the largest ocean waves in the world are
nearly impossible to see. Unlike other large waves,
these rollers, called internal waves, do not ride the
ocean surface. Instead, they move underwater,
5 undetectable without the use of satellite imagery or
sophisticated monitoring equipment. Despite their
hidden nature, internal waves are fundamental parts
of ocean water dynamics, transferring heat to the
ocean depths and bringing up cold water from below.
10 And they can reach staggering heights—some as tall
as skyscrapers.
Because these waves are involved in ocean mixing
and thus the transfer of heat, understanding them is
crucial to global climate modeling, says Tom
15 Peacock, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. Most models fail to take internal
waves into account. “If we want to have more and
more accurate climate models, we have to be able to
capture processes such as this,” Peacock says.
20 Peacock and his colleagues tried to do just that.
Their study, published in November in Geophysical
Research Letters, focused on internal waves generated
in the Luzon Strait, which separates Taiwan and the
Philippines. Internal waves in this region, thought to
25 be some of the largest in the world, can reach about
500 meters high. “That’s the same height as the
Freedom Tower that’s just been built in New York,”
Peacock says.
Although scientists knew of this phenomenon in
30 the South China Sea and beyond, they didn’t know
exactly how internal waves formed. To find out,
Peacock and a team of researchers from M.I.T. and
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution worked with
France’s National Center for Scientific Research
35 using a giant facility there called the Coriolis
Platform. The rotating platform, about 15 meters
(49.2 feet) in diameter, turns at variable speeds and
can simulate Earth’s rotation. It also has walls, which
means scientists can fill it with water and create
40 accurate, large-scale simulations of various
oceanographic scenarios.
Peacock and his team built a carbon-fiber resin
scale model of the Luzon Strait, including the islands
and surrounding ocean floor topography. Then they
45 filled the platform with water of varying salinity to
replicate the different densities found at the strait,
with denser, saltier water below and lighter, less
briny water above. Small particles were added to the
solution and illuminated with lights from below in
50 order to track how the liquid moved. Finally, they
re-created tides using two large plungers to see how
the internal waves themselves formed.
The Luzon Strait’s underwater topography, with a
distinct double-ridge shape, turns out to be
55 responsible for generating the underwater waves.
As the tide rises and falls and water moves through
the strait, colder, denser water is pushed up over the
ridges into warmer, less dense layers above it.
This action results in bumps of colder water trailed
60 by warmer water that generate an internal wave.
As these waves move toward land, they become
steeper—much the same way waves at the beach
become taller before they hit the shore—until they
break on a continental shelf.
65 The researchers were also able to devise a
mathematical model that describes the movement
and formation of these waves. Whereas the model is
specific to the Luzon Strait, it can still help
researchers understand how internal waves are
70 generated in other places around the world.
Eventually, this information will be incorporated into
global climate models, making them more accurate.
“It’s very clear, within the context of these [global
climate] models, that internal waves play a role in
75 driving ocean circulations,” Peacock says.

Q. How does the graph support the author’s point that internal waves affect ocean water dynamics?

A.
It demonstrates that wave movement forces warmer water down to depths that typically are colder.
B.
It reveals the degree to which an internal wave affects the density of deep layers of cold water.
C.
It illustrates the change in surface temperature that takes place during an isolated series of deep waves.
D.
It shows that multiple waves rising near the surface of the ocean disrupt the flow of normal tides.

Detailed Solution for Test: Practice Test - 2 - Question 20

Choice A is the best answer. In lines 7-9, the author notes that internal waves are “fundamental parts of ocean water dynamics” because they transfer “heat to the ocean depths and brin[g] up cold water from below.” The graph shows an internal wave forcing the warm isotherms to depths that typically are colder. For example, at 13:12, the internal wave transfers “heat to the ocean depths” by forcing the 10°C, 11°C, and 13°C isotherms to depths that typically are colder. Choices B, C, and D are incorrect because the graph does not show how internal waves affect the ocean’s density, surface temperature, or tide flow.

Test: Practice Test - 2 - Class 10 MCQ

20 Questions MCQ Test - Test: Practice Test - 2

Top Courses for Class 10

Top Courses for Class 10

Schools

Competitive Examinations

Quick Access Links

Technical Exams

Important Questions for Practice Test - 2

Practice Test - 2 MCQs with Answers

Online Tests for Practice Test - 2