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Preptests 60 Answers and Explanations (By Ivy Global)

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Section 4 – Reading Comprehension

Questions 1-7

Analyzing the Passage Two positions are presented:

a) Suburban sprawl is undesireable because it is corrosive to ‘civic life and civility’. Advocates of this position follow a philosophy of New Urbanism. Three pieces of evidence are presented for this position: i) Suburban sprawl deprives people of communal spaces (paragraph 1). ii) Suburban sprawl results in economic segregation (paragraph 2). iii) Subruban sprawl results in antisocial behaviour (paragraph 2). An alternative to sprawl is offered: Offering residents public spaces and mixing different types of housing (paragraph 2).

b) Suburban sprawl is not undesireable because it reflects people’s desire for a certain lifestyle. Advocates of this position are introduced as ‘opponents of New Urbanism’ (paragraph 3). One piece of evidence is presented: Suburban sprawl reflects a democratic choice (paragraph 3).

- Proponents of New Urbanism counter that we should question whether these choices are good ones even though they are made freely (paragraph 3).

- These choices have long-term social effects (paragraph 3).

Answering the Questions

1) The passage mainly describes the position of New Urbanism.

a) The passage devotes much more attention to the claims of New Urbanism and attention to criticisms of the New Urbanism are sparse.

b) While this is true, many other criticisms presented by New Urbanism featured in the passage and the economic segregation is not the focus.

c) It is never stated in the passage that New Urbanism argues this. d) This is the correct answer because it properly summarizes the main points of the

passage. The claims of New Urbanism are neatly summarized and their solution is also summarized.

e) It is never stated in the passage that New Urbanism argues this.


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2) The passage discusses New Urbanist’s position on commuting in the second paragraph between lines 26 and 35.

a) While this may be true, this is not mentioned in the passage as part of New Urbanist’s position on commuting.

b) This is not mentioned in the passage. Though the passage mentions that New Urbanists believe that time spent commuting would otherwise be spent in a town centre, it cannot be concluded that this implies productive employment.

c) This is the correct answer because it reiterates the fact stated in lines 34 and 35: motorists compete for road space, “often acting anti-socially”.

d) While this may be true, this is not mentioned in the passage as part of New Urbanist’s position on commuting.

e) While this may be true, this is not mentioned in the passage as part of New Urbanist’s position on commuting. Though the passage mentions that New Urbanists believe that time spent commuting would otherwise be spent in a town centre, it cannot be concluded that this implies family interaction.

3) This question is answered by the solution which New Urbanists propose (paragraph 2) and by their counter-contention to criticisms levelled by their opponents (paragraph 3).

a) While New Urbanists cite road rage as one source of anti-social behaviour, the primary cause of road rage is cited as competition for road space and not long commutes.

b) There is no evidence that New Urbanists hold this position. c) There is no evidence that New Urbanists hold this position. In fact, urban centres are

not even mentioned in the passage. d) This is the correct answer because it conforms to two positions which the passage

describes New Urbanists as holding. Firstly, the proposed solution of New Urbanists reflects the belief that space affects attitudes. Secondly, “New Urbanists are fundamentally concerned with the long term costs of the attitudes” which are reflected in suburban sprawl (lines 55-59); in other words, they believe that attitudes affect spatial configuration.

e) While the New Urbanists agree that people should have a right to their own values (line 51), they do not say that people’s values should not affect spatial configuration. It is only argued that we should have a critical attitude towards other’s values.

4) In line 2, the phrase ‘expansive, low-density communities’ is used to describe suburbs. In line 15, ‘community’ is used to describe New Urbanism’s argument that suburbs rob people of a space to ‘interact and get to know one another’.

a) The uses are clearly not identical. b) This is the correct answer because it correctly reiterates that in line 2, ‘communities’

refers to the geographical phenomenon of suburbs and in line 15, community refers to a sense of personal attachment to others.

c) There is no evidence that this is the case. Neither uses refer to common traits between the residents.


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d) The former does not mention of political or professional ties. However, the former does refer to a geographical clustering of residential housing, though the answer attributes this to the latter use of community.

e) There is no mention of similar backgrounds and lifestyles or informal personal ties in any of the two uses.

5) The argument of the critics of New Urbanism is that people who live in suburbs do so because they prefer the flexible lifestyle that the automobile allows.

a) If majority of those who do not like commuting have the choice to avoid commuting by living in suburbs, this suggests that commuting is a preference as the critics argue.

b) Unless we know whether these people like or do not like driving long distances, this statement neither weakens, nor strengthens the argument.

c) Unless we know whether these people like or do not like driving long distances, this statement neither weakens, nor strengthens the argument.

d) This is the correct answer because it directly refutes the evidence that these critics put forth. The critics argued that suburbs reflect a democratic choice to enjoy ‘personal mobility ’. However, if economic constraints force people to life in suburbs, it cannot be a free choice. As well, if these people would prefer would prefer to live closer to work, the claim that living in suburbs reflects a desire to commute, would be refuted.

e) This neither weakens nor strengthens the position that commuting is a democratic choice which reflects preferences; rather, it suggests that people are indifferent to zoning and suburbs.

6) The recommendations are located in lines 36-45. Their recommendations have the goal of increasing community diversity and providing spaces for face to face interaction.

a) There is no suggestion of this in the recommendations. b) There is no suggestion of this in the recommendations. c) There is no suggestion of this in the recommendations. d) There is no suggestion of this in the recommendations. e) This is the correct answer. In lines 40-42, Duany and his colleagues recommend that

“public spaces” be added to suburbs, which would include “narrow, tree-lined streets, parks, corner grocery stores, cafes small neighbourhood schools, all within walking distance”.

7) While a reading of the whole passage is required to answer this question, the answer is located in lines 19-23.

a) This is the correct answer. In lines 19-23, the New Urbanists argue that because houses in the same suburbs tend to be of the same price, suburban sprawl creates economic segregation. While certainly, those unable to afford expensive housing would be at a disadvantage, there is no reason to believe that those who can afford more expensive housing would not choose cheaper options.

b) New Urbanists actually argue the opposite: zoning regulations create economic segregation.

c) There is no suggestion of this in the passage.


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d) The argument is that distance between business and residential districts makes automobiles necessary.

e) The argument of New Urbanists is not that people prefer to live in houses that look the same, but rather that the fact that houses look the same suggests that they will also cost the same.

Questions 8-12

Analyzing the Passage This is a comparative reading question and two passages are presented:

A) Main Subject: Scholarship on how bees communicate Following the conversation in this passage:

o Aristotle documented the ability of bees to recruit nestmates to a good food source.

o Von Fish and colleagues found that this had to do with a pattern in their dances.

o Wenner and Esch discovered bees emit low frequency sounds but this thesis has not be further explored.

o Wenner also proposed that smell affected bees ability to communicate. o However, Gould disproved Wenner.

B) Main Subject: The symbolic communication systems of animals. There is an argument in this passage that some animals communicate using symbols. Two pieces of evidence are presented:

1) Seyfarth, Cheny and Marler found that vervet monkeys have different calls for different sources of danger.

2) Von Frisch discovered the code of bees’ dance. o Interestingly, bees also seem to have the ability to think, as shown by

Gould’s experiments.


8) The main subject of Passage A is: Scholarship on how bees communicate. The main subject of Passage B is: The symbolic communication systems of animals.

a) While this is something that is suggested in paragraph 3 of Passage B, this does not occur in Passage A. Furthermore, it is not the main point of Passage B.

b) While primates communication is discussed in paragraph 1 of Passage B, this is not a topic of Passage A. Furthermore, primates are not the main subject of Passage B, but only one example in a larger discussion.


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c) This is the correct answer. Both passages discuss the scholarship on animal communication.

d) While both passages discuss the controversy over the honeybee’s dance, in the second passage, this is not the main point. The second passage is about animal communication generally.

e) This is not discussed in either of the passages.


a) This is the correct answer. Both passages discuss the scholarship on animal communication. While passage B discusses honeybees, it is also concerned with other forms of animal communication (i.e. vervet monkeys in paragraph 1).

b) While Passage A certainly discusses the evidence which scientists present, Passage B also does this (e.g. the description of James Gould’s experiments in paragraph 3).

c) While Passage A does give an overview of the history of honeybee scholarship, Passage B does not entirely focus on recent theories of honeybee communication. For example, vervet monkeys are discussed in the first paragraph. As well, von Frisch’s studies (which are no longer recent), are discussed in paragraph 2.

d) Passage A nowhere mentions symbolic communication directly. Passage B is not primarily concerned with explaining the difference, but rather discussing forms of symbolic communication.

e) Neither Passage B, nor Passage A mention human communication.

10) Gould’s research is described in Paragraph A in lines 26-30 and in Paragraph B in lines 58-64.

a) Gould’s experiments in fact found that olfactory information was not necessary in honeybee communication (lines 28-29).

b) Gould’s experiments in passage B and A suggests just the opposite. Foragers tried to dispatch nestmates to a location they had previously not visited or found food at.\

c) Gould does not discuss the experience of foragers. d) This is the correct answer. In passage A, we learn that Gould discovered that foragers

can dispatch ‘bees to sites they had not actually visited’ (line 27). In passage B, Gould’s experiment found that honeybees were unable to draw other bees to a location where food was unlikely to be found.

e) Gould’s experiments did not demonstrate this.

11) This question requires a reading of the whole stimulus.

a) In Passage A, the author discounts the possibility that odour plays a role in bee communication by citing the work of Gould (26-29).

b) Wenner and Esch are only mentioned in Passage A. Furthermore, they only hypothesized that sound and odour (Wenner only) played an important role in communication.


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c) Passage B only claims that ‘some species communicate symbolically’. Some does not mean most. Passage A only discusses honeybee communication and does not look at he communication of other animals.

d) This is the correct answer. Both passages discuss von Frisch and claim that Frisch was the first to decipher the dance of honeybees.

e) Neither passages discuss whether foragers are experienced or not.


a) Passage A does not reject any positions that Passage B puts forth, b) In reality, Passage B provides several examples of a phenomenon (being animal

communication), for which Passage A gives only one (the example of honeybees). c) This is the correct answer. While Passage A discusses honeybee communication only,

Passage B is concerned with the symbolic communication of animals generally. Passage B cites honeybees as one example of two (the other being vervet monkeys) in the discussion of animal communication.

d) Passage A does not propose any explanations for unexplained phenomena in Passage B. e) While Passage A overviews the history of the scholarship on honeybee communication,

this scholarship is not the primary concern of Passage B (the primary concern is actually the symbolic communication of animals).

Questions 13-20

Analyzing the Passage Two positions are presented:

a) Valdez with initiated Chicano theatre Advocates of this position are ‘scholars generally’. Two pieces of evidence are presented for this position: i) Valdez used ‘farm worker’s basic improvisations’ to create skits on the backs of

trucks (paragraph 2, line 25). ii) Eventually this form called actos became the ‘quintessential form of Chicano

theatre’ (paragraph 2, line 32).

b) Valdez should not credited individually for the inventing Chicano theatre. It was a collective effort. Yolanda Broyles-Gonzalez holds this position (paragraph 3). Two piece of evidence are presented:


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i) Valdez’s actos (which formed the basis for Chicano theatre) was actually very similar to another form of much older traditional theatre called Carpas (paragraph 3).

ii) Many participants in the formation of Chicano theatre ‘no doublt had substantial links to this tradition and likely adapted it’.


13) The conclusion of the passage is that even though “the early development of Teatro Campesino was, in fact, a collective accomplishment”, “Valdez’s artictic was a crucial one” and the result was a “distinctive” form of performance art (lines 54-60)

a) While a case can be made for this answer, the Yolanda Broyles-Gonzales does not claim that Luis Valdez created Teatro Campensino. Rather, she claims that Valdez alone not the primary creator (the farmers had important contributions). As well, this answer is not in line with the conclusion offered in lines 54-60.

b) Cesar Chavez is clearly not the focus on the passage. c) This is the correct answer. This reiterates the conclusion outlined above. We are given

clues that this is the conclusion of the author by a shift in voice, the location of this conclusion (at the end of the passage), and by the fact that it summarizes the positions presented in the passage and comments on them.

d) While this may very well be true, the passage seems to discuss other things apart from this.

e) Nothing is said regarding Valdez’s political and academic connections.

14) The word immediacy is described as ‘palpable’ and is related to participants’ ‘personal experiences’ (lines 38-39).

a) Immediacy here is clearly related to some kind of psychological or emotional experience and not a physical one.

b) While a ‘sense of intimacy’ does convey part of what ‘immediacy’ might mean, this immediacy is not attributed to the way lines were delivered but to “personal experiences”.

c) The immediacy is caused by “personal experiences” (which related to union concerns at the time), and not the ease with which plays were created.

d) The immediacy is caused by “personal experiences” (which related to union concerns at the time), and not the relationship between the director and performers.

e) This is the correct answer because here immediacy is caused by the “personal experiences” of the audience resonating with the content of the plays.

15) The first and second sentences primarily provides information on the situation out of which Chicano theatre arose (the topic of the rest of the passage)

a) This is the correct answer. The background of union struggles motivated Valdez to approach farmers. Originally, Valdez’s theatre troupe was mean to convey the


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experience of union struggles: “he asked people to illustrate what happened on the picket lines...ridicule” strikebreakers.

b) Teatro Campesino was developed to support union struggles. Union struggles did not prevent Chicano theatre from being accepted.

c) While this background of union struggles supports the view that Teatre Companesino was an effective as political theatre, nowhere does the author acknowledge a possible objection which might be countered.

d) There is no evidence that scholars have ignored theatre history. In fact, the historical scholarship in the passage suggests just the opposite.

e) While the author does agree that historians are guilty of this, the second sentence does nothing to address or support this criticism.

16) The answer to this question is found in lines 33-39, in which acto is described, and in lines 45-49, in which carpas is described.

a) Acto arose in a Mexican American context and was influenced by Valdez’s experience with San Francisco Mime theatre (line 29). Carpas has roots in the ‘twentieth century in the border area of Mexico and the United States’ (lines 50-51).

b) While acto arose in a Mexican American context and was influenced by Valdez’s experience with San Francisco Mime theatre (line 29), carpas has roots in the ‘twentieth century in the border area of Mexico and the United States’ (lines 50-51).

c) While acto certainly had origins on farms (line 18), there is no evidence that carpas did. d) This is the correct answer. Acto should “satirize the opposition” (line 36). Similarly,

carpas was “often satirical” (line 57). e) While acto certainly was part of union struggles (line 18), there is no evidence that

carpas was.

17) While a reading of the whole passage is required to answer this question, the answer is located in paragraph 2.

a) Nowhere in the passage does Valdez comment on carpas. In fact, Yolanda Broyles-Gonzales shows that carpas was very similar to actos.

b) Nowhere does Valdez comment on Cesar Chavez. We only know that Valdez approached Chavez with his idea.

c) Nowhere does Valdez address avant garde theatre. In fact, acto was actually influenced by Valdez’s experience with mime, which is arguably ‘avant garde theatre in the European tradition’.

d) This is the correct answer. The actors in Valdez’s troupe did not originally have formal training; they were simply farmers.

e) Nowhere does Valdez discuss aesthetic aspects of theatre. In fact, Valdez argues for certain aesthetic aspects of acto (satire and brevity) which were related to the political purpose of acto (to illustrate union struggles).

18) The conclusion of the passage is that even though “the early development of Teatro Campesino was, in fact, a collective accomplishment”, “Valdez’s artictic was a crucial


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one” and the result was a “distinctive” form of performance art (lines 54-60)

a) We know that the origins of carpas are discussed in the passage. However, these origins are presented as facts and no attitudes are attributed to them.

b) The motivation of scholars who hold this position is never described in the passage. c) This is the correct answer. The author acknowledges that Yolanda Broyles-Gonzales’

view on the signicance of carpas is justified (Teatre Campesino was a “distinctive genre” with “connections to both” carpas and acto; line 58-60).

d) The extent of Valdez’s acquaintance with carpas is never directly described in the passage (though, it is suggested that as a participant “in the formation of Teatro” Valdez had cultural links to carpas). In any case, these cultural links are presented more as facts and no attitudes are attributed to them.

e) Yolanda Broyles-Gonzales’ never discusses the role of mime in shaping Valdez’s contribution to actos.

19) While a reading of the whole passage is required to answer this question, the answer is located in paragraph 1.

a) The success of Teatro Campesino in convincing farm owners is not discussed in the passage.

b) Only Valdez is mentioned as being influenced by the San Francisco Mime Troupe. c) This is the correct answer. We know that the United Farm Workers achieved their

earlier success by 1965 (lines 5-8). We know that Valdez did not start his efforts until 1965 (line 9).

d) The language of Teatro Campesino is not discussed in the passage. e) The critical success of Teatro Campesino is not discussed in the passage.

20) While a reading of the whole passage is required to answer this question, the answer is located in lines 33-39, which describe acto.

a) While this may be true, only Yolanda Broyles-Gonzales’ work on carpas is mentioned. b) This is the correct answer. In line 35, we learn that acto (in the form it took in the

1960s) should expose a problem in a “brief comic statement”. c) In fact, we have evidence to quite the opposite. Acto involves “skits and sketches” based

on improvisation (lines 25-27). This hardly suggests a realistic simulation of events. d) In fact, we have evidence to quite the opposite. Acto was based on improvisations of

farmers (lines 25-27). Farmers did not adapt Valdez’s ideas, but rather Valdez adapted their ideas.

e) Valdez’s activities in the 1970s is not discussed.


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Questions 21-27

Analyzing the Passage The first paragraph provides background information. The second paragraph describes the proposal of uplift fees. Two points are made:

1) Uplift fees involve the normal fee as well as the additional percentage of that fee if the case is won.

a. This restriction prevents lawyers from gaining disproportionate amounts of the awards of litigation, which is unfair to clients.

2) Uplift fees should only be used as a last resort when clients cannot pay lawyer’s fees by other means.

The third paragraph and fourth paragraph present 2 problems which the uplift fee proposal creates:

1) With the arrangement, lawyers would have to predict a number of things which they cannot easily control.

2) Only the very poor would benefit from the contingency fee arrangement. a. The very poor who have the option of contingency will benefit greatly (obtain

diligence, fund their litigation and shift the risk of litigating onto lawyers) without much risk, while those who can afford litigation (however, barely) will have to take on tremendous risk to fund their trails.


21) The answer is located in paragraphs 1 and 2 which describe the uplift fee arrangement. Lines 7 -17 are particularly relevant.

a) Uplift fees do not involve a division of costs. b) This is the correct answer. Uplift fees are a form of contingency fee. Contingency fees

“call for payment only if the lawyer is successful” (lines 7-8). The uplift proposal requires the client to pay “the normal fee plus an agreed upon additional percentage of that fee.” The example in the paragraph follows has two properties.

c) Uplift fees do not involve a division of costs. d) With contingency fees, the client is not charged based on the predicted outcome of the

trail. The client is not charged at all unless the lawyer wins the case. e) With contingency fees, the client does not take a loan out from the lawyer. The client is

not charged at all unless the lawyer wins the case.

22) While a reading of the whole passage is required to answer this question, the answer is located in lines 55-59, which describes contingency fee arrangements.

a) This is the correct answer. In lines 52-55, we learn that contingency fees “shift the risk...from the client to the lawyer”


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b) While the proposal is intended to keep lawyers from ‘gaining disproportionately’, it is not stated that the proposal would prevent this from occurring in normal circumstances (line 19).

c) The likelihood of recommendations being enacted is not discussed. d) In fact, the passage states quite the opposite. Contingency fee arrangements “increase

lawyers’ diligence and commitment” (lines 58-59). e) We only know that contingency fees involve calls for payment “only if the lawyer is

successful”. This does not necessarily mean that the award will be an agreed upon percentage of the damages (of which there might not be any).

23) The passage proceeds by describing a proposal and then pointing out problems that arise with the proposal.

a) The passage actually criticizes the proposed reform (paragraphs 3 and 4). b) The passage discusses a proposed reform and does not propose solutions. c) The author does not claim that uplift fees will worsen the situation they are intended to

prevent (presumably, lawyers “gaining disproportionately” from contingency arrangements )

d) In fact, the passage argues that this arrangement will pose problems for the legal system.

e) This is the correct answer. The passage proceeds by describing the uplift fee reform proposed by the LRCWA and then pointing out problems that arise with uplift fees.

24) The difficulties in determining the eligibility of clients is discussed in paragraph 3.

a) While this may be true, the passage does not mention this directly. b) While this may be true, the passage does not mention this directly. c) This is the correct answer. Lines 38-39 argue that eligibility “depends in large part on

factors that may change as the case unfolds.” d) While this is true, this is the condition which requires lawyers to investigate eligibility

and is not a problem that lawyers face in determining eligibility. e) While this may be true, the passage does not mention this directly.

25) The difficulties in determining the eligibility of clients is discussed in paragraph 3.

a) While a good case can be made for this answer, B is a superior answer since it better describes the phrase which refers to a proportion of awards of damages and not a simple monetary charge.

b) This is the correct answer. This answer is superior to A because it acknowledges that the phrase refers to a proportion of awards of damages. Also, it refers to the injustice of a disproportional gain (“unreasonable compensation”).

c) Whether the client considers the compensation to be fair or not is not discussed. d) If the client’s case had been unsuccessful, the lawyer would have received nothing. e) The intention of the judges and jury is not discussed.

26) The recommended conditions of the LRCWA are found in paragraph 2.


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a) While it is stated that contingency fees do increase lawyer’s diligence in the third paragraph, it is not said that the LRCWA holds that this must occur in order for contingency fees to be permitted.

b) Lines 26- 29 show that the LRCWA holds that contingency fees should only be used when the client is unable to pay the fee without sufficient awards. This does not mean that the damages have to be insignificant.

c) Lines 26- 29 show that the LRCWA holds that contingency fees should only be used when the client is unable to pay the fee without sufficient awards. Lawyers must be certain of this; this is not the same as lawyers being ‘not certain’ that the client can pay.

d) This is the correct answer. Lines 24-26 show that the LRCWA holds that the “contingency fee arrangement must be used only as a resort when all means of avoiding such an arrangement have been avoided.”

e) Lines 26- 29 show that the LRCWA holds that contingency fees should only be used when the client is unable to pay the fee without sufficient awards. This does not mean that the lawyer has to believe that that the client will win.

27) The author’s criticisms of the uplift proposal are found in paragraphs 3 and 4.

a) This strengthens the author’s contention that the least well off will be able to make use of the uplift arrangement (whereas the middle class cannot).

b) This is the correct answer. It addresses one of the criticism the author levels at the uplift fee scheme. Namely, if lawyers were already able to make a “careful evaluation of prospective client’s financial circumstances” in light of “complex or protracted litigation”, the criticism in paragraph 3 (that this kind of evaluation is too onerous for lawyers) is invalid.

c) Whether the recommendations are implemented or not is immaterial to the criticisms of the author.

d) This strengthens the author’s criticism that litigation without contingency will be expensive (for the middle class).

e) The actual use of uplift fees is immaterial to the criticisms levelled by the author.

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