epdf.pub_cbest-cliffs-test-prep13a9b242c7cb4125e6cca92d00a73d5a41681

The Reading Section
Skimming this question is not very helpful because it doesn’t point specifically to
any information in the passage. Questions of this sort usually assess your overall
understanding of the meaning, style, tone, or point of view of the passage. In this
case, you may recognize that Augustine is a serious person; therefore, more lighthearted
terms like fair-weather A, cock-eyed B, and glib E are probably inappropriate.
Choice D contradicts Augustine’s success as an “inspiration to countless
thousands.” Choice C corresponds with his ongoing, hopeful struggle to retain
virtue in the world; it’s the best answer.
Know Where to Look for Information
Sample
7. Judging from the reaction of thousands to Augustine’s Confessions, it can
be concluded that much of his world at that time was in a state of
A. opulence.
B. misery.
C. heresy.
D. reformation.
E. sanctification.
Having skimmed this question, you may have marked the last sentence of the passage
as the place to look for the answer. That Augustine’s readers were inspired
implies that they required inspiration, that they were in some sort of uninspiring,
or negative situation. You can therefore eliminate A and E because they are positive
terms. Choice D is not necessarily a negative term, and so is probably not the
best answer. Choice C, although a negative term, does not describe a state of being
which thirsts for inspiration. Choice B does, and B therefore is the best
choice.
Read the passage below and answer the two questions that follow.
The fact that bacteria are capable of chemical communication first emerged
from investigations into marine bacteria able to glow in the dark. In 1970,
Kenneth H. Nealson and John Woodland Hastings of Harvard University observed
that luminous bacteria in culture do not glow at a constant intensity. In
fact, they emit no light until the population reaches a high density.
Nealson and Hastings knew that the light resulted from chemical reactions
catalyzed by the enzyme luciferase. They postulated that this enzyme was ultimately
controlled not by some mechanism inside each bacterial cell but by a
molecular messenger that traveled between cells. Once inside target cells, the
messenger, which the researchers called autoinducer, could induce expression
of the genes coding for luciferase and for the other proteins involved in light
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