Passage I (Questions 1-5)

Stephen Hawking bet Gordon Kane $100 that

physicists would not discover the Higgs boson.
After losing that bet when physicists detected the
particle in 2012, Hawking lamented the discovery,
saying it made physics less interesting. Now, in the
preface to a new collection of essays and lectures
called "Starmus," the famous theoretical physicist is
warning that the particle could one day be
responsible for the destruction of the known
universe.

Hawking is not the only scientist who thinks so. The
theory of a Higgs boson doomsday, where a
quantum fluctuation creates a vacuum "bubble" that
expands through space and wipes out the universe,
has existed for a while. However, scientists don't
think it could happen anytime soon.

"Most likely it will take 10 to the 100 years [a 1
followed by 100 zeroes] for this to happen, so
probably you shouldn't sell your house and you
should continue to pay your taxes," Joseph Lykken,
a theoretical physicist at the Fermi National
Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois, said
during his lecture at the SETI Institute on Sept. 2.
"On the other hand it may have already happened,
and the bubble might be on its way here now. And
you won't know because it's going at the speed of
light so there's not going to be any warning."

The Higgs boson, sometimes referred to as the 'god
particle,' much to the chagrin of scientists who
prefer the official name, is a tiny particle that
researchers long suspected existed. Its discovery
lends strong support to the Standard Model of
particle physics, or the known rules of particle
physics that scientists believe govern the basic
building blocks of matter. The Higgs boson particle
is so important to the Standard Model because it
signals the existence of the Higgs field, an invisible
energy field present throughout the universe that
imbues other particles with mass. Since its
discovery two years ago, the particle has
been making waves in the physics community.

Now that scientists measured the particle's mass last
year, they can make many other calculations,
including one that seems to spell out the end of the
universe.

The Higgs boson has the precise mass needed to
keep the universe on the brink of instability, but
physicists say the delicate state will eventually
collapse and the universe will become unstable.
That conclusion involves the Higgs field.

The Higgs field emerged at the birth of the universe
and has acted as its own source of energy since
then, Lykken said. Physicists believe the Higgs field
may be slowly changing as it tries to find an optimal
balance of field strength and energy required to
maintain that strength.

"Just like matter can exist as liquid or solid, so the
Higgs field, the substance that fills all space-
time, could exist in two states," Gian Giudice, a
theoretical physicist at the CERN lab, where the
Higgs boson was discovered, explained during a
TED talk in October 2013.

Right now the Higgs field is in a minimum potential
energy state like a valley in a field of hills and
valleys. The huge amount of energy required to
change into another state is like chugging up a hill.
If the Higgs field makes it over that energy hill,
some physicists think the destruction of the universe
is waiting on the other side.

Material used in this test passage has been adapted from the
following source:
Kelly Dickerson, God particle could destroy universe, says Stephen
Hawking. 2014 Kelly Dickerson

1. According to the passage, which of the following
scenarios is most analogous to how the Higgs boson
could cause damage?

A) A star in the universe disappears without a trace.
B) A robber breaks into a quiet home during the late
hours of the night.
C) A predicted tornado destroys a small village.
D) A car slowly runs out of gas and comes to a halt
in the middle of traffic.









2. Quantum tunneling is a process where a field
can bypass the energy required in order to move to
another energy state. Based on the passage, if
quantum tunneling were to occur with the Higgs
field, which of the following would be most
plausible?

A) The Higgs field could be brought to a higher
energy level.
B) The world may end sooner than some scientists
believe.
C) The Higgs boson could change in mass, thereby
affecting the mass of all other particles.
D) The standard model will no longer be accurate.

3. Which of the following questions is NOT
answered by the passage?

A) What supplies the Higgs field with energy?
B) Approximately when was the god particle
discovered?
C) How does the Higgs field give other particles
mass?
D) When was the Higgs field created?

4. One the basis of the passage, the most likely
reason Stephen Hawking feels that physics is less
interesting since the discovery of the Higgs boson
is because:

A) there are no other worthwhile discoveries to be
made in physics.
B) the cause of the eventual destruction of earth has
been found.
C) there are few additional explanations needed for
the laws of particle physics now that the Higgs
boson has finally been found.
D) efforts must now be put forth toward preventing
the vacuum bubble from forming, rather than
studying science.












5. Based on his statements, it can be inferred that
Joseph Lykann most likely assumes:

I. people place less weight on financial
concerns when faced with imminent doom.
II. the Higgs field wont be able to generate
enough energy to move to its destructive state until
at least a hundred million years have passed.
III. there is a possibility that the Higgs boson has
already initiated its destructive path.

A) I only
B) I and II
C) I and III
D) II and III

__________________________________________



































Passage II (Questions 6-11)

The phrase the fact of the matter implies instant
distillation. Sally Keiths poems are more discursive
than that but no less concentrated in their intent.
Part-epic, part-elegy, her latest collection presents
one world spun into another: a wonderfully
involuted tableau where ancient Greek myth,
German painting, strip malls, and natural history
swirl together with the speakers mourning. She sets
these varied tropes into orbit to represent
faithfully, one feelsa mind in motion, reeling
through a time of tremendous grief. By deftly
stacking each new line of thought against the next,
The Fact of the Matter achieves a rhetoric of
wrenching juxtaposition, illuminating the complex
forces that the pastboth distant and nearexerts
on ones present.

Weighing most heavily on these poems is the all-
consuming pain of loss: the recent passing of the
poets mother coupled with the dissolution of a
marriage. Keith at times addresses these struggles
through plainspoken confession: My marriage
would be an error. / Everybody knew. Still we
passed the time with wondering // into how many
shapes a body could go. But rehashing the divorce
seems like a tired exercise; apparently everybody
knew anyway. This is not to say the speaker has
moved on. On the contrary, she finds herself
imprisoned within lingering sorrow yet nevertheless
resolves to produce art out of her confinement: Ill
paint this wall a mural to remind us of the past. //
For rest: one small cot. / For fourteen hours a day:
just green. Keiths diction reinforces the harshness
of grief, in particular the stark conditions the
grieving artist must endure. In this way, Keiths
work serves as ars poetica, detailing the strain of its
making. Of course, these poems also look outward.
With brush in hand, Keith recalls both her speakers
past along with the larger tradition of elegy rooted
in antiquity.

Invoking the classics is a poetic gesture as old as the
classics; Keith makes it new, in part, by proposing
simultaneity: If somewhere Achilles is soaking in
the still hot Mediterranean sun, / elsewhere I study
the pieces of a painting. In these two lines, the
millennia separating speaker and mythical Achilles
vanish; both figures appear in the present tense.
Their depiction offers a stark contrast: whereas
Achilles is shown outdoors in glowing sensory
terms, the speaker is found elsewhere before
some crumbled artifact. One looms large as myth,
the other is left to clean up afterwards. Still, their
shared mourning unites them. The same poem
begins, One conversation is contained in the
room. Each stanza, or room, in Keiths work stages
a dialogue between disparate objects, evidencing
just how far grief, with a kind of gravitational pull,
might stretch to bring them together. In the spirit of
Whitman (It avails not, time nor place), Keiths
poems skillfully integrate far-flung narratives into
their own contemporary tale of loss; in so doing, the
book broadens its scope while acutely reflecting the
scattered attentions of a pained mind.

Because The Fact of the Matter toggles so quickly
between frames of reference, a reader may struggle
at times to find her bearings. Keiths poems often
launch into an iambic mode and then slacken into
something more prose-like and expository; indeed,
her voice spans many different registers, all in the
effort to hold the thinking self intact, to avoid
cracking.

This question of remaining whole comes to the fore
when Keith writes about Robert Smithsons Spiral
Jetty, a 1,500 foot-long earthwork constructed from
basalt stone in Utahs Great Salt Lake. The speaker
observes the awe-inspiring sculpture and ponders its
interwoven mandalas: What kind of walls are
there, holding together / the parts of the heart? How
many spirals / hide inside the brain as we know it
wider than / the sky? For Keith, the heart is a
tender, walled thing, bound to itself; the mind, by
contrast, remains boundless, ever reaching for new
frontiers, as suggested by the italicized phrase from
Dickinson. Thus, the imagination may triumph
where emotion falls short, for the brain can see
beyond barriers. (Revelation has no dimensions,
reads the books epigraph, a quote from Smithson).
In Smithsons signature spiral, The Fact of the
Matter locates an important trope: that the mind
endures as an expansive force, even during
profound heartbreak.

Material used in this test passage has been adapted from the
following source:
Ben Purkert, Spiraling to the Point: Sally Keiths The Fact of the
Matter. 2013 by The Kenyan Review





6. The main idea of the passage as a whole is that:

A) poetry primarily serves as a means of allowing
elements of the past to become connected to the
present.
B) Sally Keith could connect with archaic figures
through her poetry, thus allowing her to cope with
her grief.
C) The Fact of the Matter is a complex collection of
poetry and often difficult for the reader to
comprehend.
D) The Fact of the Matter fundamentally reflects a
state of sadness of its author.

7. As it is used in the passage, the term elegy most
likely refers to:

A) beauty.
B) lament for the dead.
C) ancient poetry.
D) nostalgia.

8. Implicit in the passage is the notion that:

A) the mind is resilient.
B) even in antiquated times, poets attempted to
emotionally connect with others through their
works.
C) like Keith, Whitman was also depressed.
D) heartbreak may hinder the imagination.

9. According to the passage, the author apparently
believes that Keith continues to mention her divorce
in her poetry because:

A) readers need to be reminded of her troubles in
order to understand her writing.
B) she could not think clearly due to her emotional
state.
C) she intended to demonstrate the challenge of the
creative process.
D) she felt her confinement was best expressed
through explicit discussion of her previous
grievances.








10. Which of the following, if true, would be most
in contrast to ideas suggested by the passage?

A) After his fianc ends their relationship, a famous
painter never again produces a significant work.
B) A poet, upon receiving a new pet, puts forth all
of her energy toward raising it and stops producing
poetry.
C) A novelist overcomes writers block ten years
after his father passes away.
D) After a well known musician dies, his
symphonies are eventually forgotten.

11. The authors attitude toward Keith and her
poetry can best be described as:

A) emotionally detached.
B) reasonably sympathetic.
C) moderately commendatory.
D) mildly unfavorable.

__________________________________________






























Passage III (Questions 12-16)

It has long been established that brighter individuals
tend to solve problems and learn new information
more quickly than those who are less bright. It is
tempting to assume that speed should therefore play
a central role in intelligence tests.

In constructing the prototype of his intelligence
tests, David Wechsler (1944) took as his guide a
comprehensive view of intelligence as a part of the
total personality. The Performance Scales in
particular were designed to include variables which
Wechsler considered nonintellective, including
speed of response. On the Wechsler Intelligence
Scale for Children -- Revised (WISC-R) (Wechsler,
1974), for example, bonus points are awarded for
three of the five subtests on the Performance Scale
(Picture Arrangement, Block Design, and Object
Assembly), and speed constitutes the major scoring
criterion for a fourth Performance subtest, Coding.
Similarly, for the new Wechsler Preschool and
Primary Scale of Intelligence -- Revised (WPPSI-R)
(Wechsler, 1989) for younger children, bonus points
are awarded for rapid performance on two subtests,
Object Assembly and Block Design, with speed the
major variable in an optional subtest, Animal Pegs
(formerly Animal House). On both WISC-R and
WPPSI-R, additional performance subtests and a
verbal sub-test, Arithmetic, also have time limits, as
do those with bonus points, but the limits are
sufficiently generous that correctness rather than
speed usually determines the score.

Wechsler viewed mental speed, then, as a
noncognitive aspect of intelligence. Similarly,
Kagan (1965) viewed response speed as a matter of
cognitive style, rather than cognitive ability. More
recent research has, however, focused upon speed
of processing as an index of cognitive ability. After
a long period of disfavor, research into reaction
time has re-emerged as a legitimate endeavor. Most
investigators have looked at the relationship
between IQ and reaction times on tasks such as
choosing which key to touch in response to visual
cues in the form of patterns of lights or shapes.
Other investigators have looked at the relationship
between IQ and inspection time, typically the
minimum time needed to apprehend information in
tasks such as identifying the longer of two lines.
Indeed, relationships have been discovered even in
infancy between speed of habituation to a visual
stimulus and intellectual performance in middle
childhood. Most research has focused upon
apparently simple tasks, but measurement of
cognitive processing speed has also played a role in
research which attempts to unravel the components
of more complex problem-solving. Sternberg, for
example, demonstrated that brighter subjects differ
from average subjects with respect to the amount of
time allocated to different processes or cognitive
components of a task: more time planning, less time
executing, and less total time overall.

Despite the new information about speed of
performance in the laboratory, Sternberg (1982) has
argued that emphasizing speed of performance on
intelligence tasks is likely to penalize individuals
who approach tasks "intelligently" or strategically.
In particular, gifted children who exhibit a
thoughtful and high-level problem solving approach
may not earn extra points for speed. Marr and
Sternberg (1987) suggest that, while the capacity for
rapid cognitive processing is, in most contexts,
adaptive and "intelligent," there may be individual
differences in preference for mental speed, and
complex relationships with higher-level processes
which are described as metacomponential. One
source of individual difference is described by
Siegler, who found that in solving simple arithmetic
tasks, children he described as "perfectionists"
avoided the most efficient strategy, simple retrieval,
unless they were very sure of their answers.

Direct translation from laboratory tasks to the kinds
of problem-solving required on intelligence tests
may be misleading. Most laboratory tasks present
numerous trials with the same paradigm, so that it is
both possible and efficient for the subject to devise
a useful strategy. Intelligence tests, on the other
hand, tend to present a variety of problems even
within the same subtest, making strategy
development difficult. Even when the task consists
of repetitive responses (for example. Animal Pegs
on the WPPSI-R or Coding on the WISC-R), the
child is typically not given information which
would permit an "intelligent" allocation of time
between initial study and execution of the task.

Material used in this test passage has been adapted from the
following source:
Reams, R. The race is not necessarily to the swift: Validity of WISC-
R bonus points for speed. 1990 by National Association for Gifted
Children.

12. Suppose the parent of a child believed to be
gifted thought her childs intelligence test results
were inaccurate because the exam did not
encourage him to utilize his unique analytic
approach. Based on the passage, the parents views
would be most in accordance with those of:

A) Wechsler.
B) Sternberg.
C) Siegler.
D) the author.

13. Which of the following best clarifies what the
author means by an intelligent allocation of time
in the last paragraph?

A) Time spent mentally preparing the individual to
complete the future task at hand.
B) Time spent considering previous responses to
former tasks.
C) Time spent devising a suitable approach to
upcoming tasks.
D) Time spent inspecting what challenge the
individual is facing.

14. According to the passage, for which of the
following tests is speed the primary determinant for
scoring?

I. Arithmetic
II. Coding
III. Animal Pegs

A) II only
B) III only
C) II and III
D) I and II













15. The passage suggests that mental quickness is
increasingly being considered in cognitive research
primarily because:

A) despite variation across individuals, links
between information processing time and
intelligence have been identified.
B) time required for infants to react to visual stimuli
has been shown to be related to IQ.
C) after being suppressed by opposing opinions for
so long, the re-emergence of this study is now
openly welcomed by the scientific community.
D) if relationships between reaction time and
intelligence can be confirmed, then complex
problems might be more easily solved.

16. A study was done where a group of children
were given 3 WISC-R timed subtests. On average,
the high intelligence children scored more points for
correct answers than the children of average
intelligence, but roughly the same number of speed
points for 2 of the 3 subtests. Based on the passage,
one could most reasonably believe, from these
results, the author would conclude that:

A) the study was inaccurate, since high intelligence
children usually respond faster to tasks.
B) the laboratory tasks were not translated properly
to the intelligence test tasks, thus leading to
disparity.
C) the high intelligence children may have been
perfectionists as Siegler describes, and therefore
took longer to complete certain tests that they could
normally finish very quickly.
D) the utility of including speed bonuses is
doubtful.

__________________________________________














Passage IV (Questions 17-22)

Each Sunday afternoon for the past few weeks,
several thousand people have gathered in a public
park in a solidly middle-class district of comfortable
apartment blocks and quiet cafs in Buenos Aires.
Though it is summer, and some of the crowd are
dressed in shorts and T-shirts, their anger is
palpable. They listen as speakers from the newly-
formed neighborhood committees report on plans
for protests outside banks and against the
government. They roar their disapproval of
politicians. Kick them all out, not a single one
should stay, they chant.

This spontaneous movement helped to bring down
two presidents in December. The vacuum was filled
when Congress last month chose Eduardo Duhalde
of the Peronists, the largest political party, as the
interim president. Yet Mr. Duhalde's government
may not last until the next scheduled presidential
election, in September 2003. Such is the awe-
inspiring severity of the economic, financial,
political and social collapse that has befallen Latin
America's hitherto richest country and its third-
largest economy.

The past few weeks have seen Argentina default on
its $155 billion public debt, the largest such default
by any country in history. After a decade in which
the peso was fixed by law at parity with the dollar,
Mr. Duhalde had little choice but to devalue and
then float the currency. Already, the peso is trading
at under two to the dollar; it may well weaken
further. Because most savings, loans and contracts
were in dollars, the devaluation has added to the
financial chaos. Since December 1st, savings
accounts have been frozen. Dollar savings have
been turned into devalued pesos. Depositors also
face restrictions on how much they can withdraw
from current accounts. In January, the banks were
closed for all but half a dozen days.

The economy has ground almost to a halt, as the
chain of payments between consumers, businesses
and suppliers has broken down. Cash is at a
premium. All foreign-exchange transactions require
the approval of the Central Bank, which has been
slow to authorize them. So imports have all but
dried up. In some ways, that is merely inconvenient:
Chilean salmon, for example, is no longer on the
menu at even the best restaurants in Buenos Aires.
In others, it may be tragic: hospitals have run short
of imported medicines.

Even if Mr. Duhalde succeeds in putting together a
coherent recovery programme, the cost of the
collapse is huge. The government reckons that GDP
will contract by 4.9% this year; independent
economists think it could shrink by up to twice as
much. That comes on top of a recession that has
now lasted for nearly four years. At the current
exchange rate, income per person in dollar terms
has shrunk from around $7,000 to just $3,500, or
less than Brazil's. Unemployment has risen to
perhaps 25%; in the cities, 44% of the population
are now officially poor, with an income of less than
120 pesos per month. And there is a deeper cost. By
seizing its citizens' savings, the government has
broken a basic contract, and violated the rule of law.
Trust between government and citizensthe
essential glue of a prosperous democracyhas been
destroyed.

For now, politicians and (mainly foreign-owned)
banks are the scapegoats. Several politicians have
been beaten up and abused on the street. Dozens of
bank branches have been attacked; many now
operate with their windows covered by wooden or
steel plates. We're somewhat less popular than
serial killers, says Michael Smith, who manages
HSBC's Argentine subsidiary. A further sign of the
political damage is that it is unclear whether
Argentines will continue to vote for the Peronists
and Radicals, the two parties that have dominated
democratic politics for the past half century. Even
before the economy collapsed, a record 40% of
voters in a congressional election last October cast
blank or spoiled votes.

Argentina's fate is all the more surprising because,
until recently, it was widely held up as a model of
successful free-market reform. What went wrong?
And who is to blame? The answers are vital not just
to Argentina's recovery, but to a wider debate about
future policy in Latin America and other parts of the
developing world.

Material used in this test passage has been adapted from the
following source:
Taylor, A. Argentinas Collapse: A decline without parallel. 2002
by The Economist




17. Which of the following statements is
inconsistent with information in the passage?

A) The current economic state of Argentina is
unprecedented by any other nation.
B) The political conditions of Argentina have been
relatively stable but are apt to change soon.
C) International trade is currently being strictly
regulated in Argentina.
D) The Argentinean crisis may impact other
countries.

18. Based on the passage, which of the following
MUST be true?

A) The peso will continue to decrease in value in
the future.
B) Eduardo Duhalde will not live long enough to
run in the next election.
C) The average earning that a Brazilian citizen
obtains per year is greater than that of an
Argentinean.
D) The restaurant industry is declining because
certain products can no longer be imported.

19. Based on the passage, the reader can justifiably
infer that the most damaging action which has
contributed to the current conditions of Argentina
has been done by:

A) the government.
B) the Central Bank.
C) the Peronists and Radicals.
D) the politicians.

20. What is most likely the authors intended
purpose for the quote Were somewhat less
popular than serial killers?

A) To suggest that crime is also a contributing
factor to Argentinas current poor conditions.
B) To imply that bankers are at least more respected
than murderers.
C) To emphasize how much politicians are
currently despised.
D) To explain why certain protective actions are
being taken by banks.






21. Assume that globalization is a broad process
where a country slowly and gently loses finances to
other nations over several decades. Would this
process, if true and if it affected Argentina, serve as
a likely explanation to the authors questions from
the final paragraph?

A) Yes; it would clarify why the economy was
slowly dropping, unemployment was carefully
rising, and money was finally being devalued.
B) Yes; it would demonstrate why Argentina was
experiencing a recession for the past ten years and
why banks have frozen funds.
C) No; Argentina declined too quickly and
markedly for globalization to have been the
probable cause.
D) No; the cause of Argentinas collapse, though
uncertain, was an internal factor.

22. If the information in the passage is accurate,
which of the following would one least likely
expect to find in Argentina if Mr. Duhalde succeeds
in presidency?

A) Decreased participation in congressional
elections.
B) Decreased percentage of poverty in the
population.
C) No change in power of currently established
political parties.
D) Continued disconnection between people and
government.

__________________________________________