The central idea of the passage is that individuals are not responsible for the ecological disaster of plastic; the plastic problem is the result of a permissive legal framework that has not put the onus on producers of plastic to manage waste (see paragraphs 4 and 5). So, the intervention the author is likely to support is the one mentioned in option 4.

Paragraph 3 lists options 1, 3 and 4 as the negative effects of the use of plastics. Only option 2 is not mentioned in the passage.

While all other sentences relate to slave talk, i.e conversations between slaves, C is different, as it is about the significance of oaths, orations and invocations in the societies slaves came from. DABE is a cogent paragraph.

Tricky question. CE is a possible link, as both talk of androcentric literature. But while C talks about the 'reading experience' depending on the gender of the reader, E talks about the realization that the literary canon is androcentric. These are slightly different ideas.

ED is a strong link, as both talk about the feminists' realization. ED leads on to B, which talks about Elaine Showalter's critique of the literary curriculum. AE is also a strong link, as both sentences relate to the question of what women read.

Between AE and CE, AE is links better to the main idea of the paragraph-- the realization by feminists that what women read has a damaging effect on women readers. AEDB is a cogent paragraph. C is the sentence to be eliminated.

Sentence A is the best opening sentence, as it sets the context. Sentence A talks of poisons used for assassination purposes. C adds to A explaining how the foundation of microbiology helped those interested in biological weapons. BD is a unit: 'these treaties' in D refers to the treaties mentioned in B. ACBD is hence the right order.

The paragraph describes how Europe changed its internal structure and transformed itself into a united whole using peaceful mechanisms in the new multi-polar world. Option D captures all key ideas in the paragraph. The paragraph is specific to the time after Soviet decline and emergent unification of Germany-- a multi-polar world. Options A and C do not include this idea. The paragraph explains how Europe changed its internal structure by adjusting its differences by peaceful mechanisms. Option B does not include this.

The main idea of the paragraph is conveyed in the last sentence: "Indeed, that movie scene exemplifies the so-called “CSI effect”—the phenomenon in which judges hold unrealistic expectations of the capabilities of forensic science." Option D rephrases this. Also note that all other option are specific to voice recognition. The paragraph is more general and talks of forensic science.

Sentence A is the best opening sentence, as it tells us what the 'tales' mentioned in other sentences refer to -- nineteenth century San folktales. Sentence A states that the significance of these tales is "hard to determine". Sentence D tells us how the meaning can be elicited. So, D follows A. Sentence B mentions "shamans"-- who/what these are is clear only from C.Shamans are dead and malevolent. So, C comes before B.

The last line of the paragraph states the main idea: Biologists ask if speaking of a single entity called “intelligence” is coherent and question the validity of measures used to estimate heritability of a trait in humans. Option A rephrases this.

The second half of option B is incorrect. The paragraph says biologists question the validity of measures used to estimate heritability, not the ways in which intelligence is inherited. Options C is not as comprehensive as A. Option D is incorrect as it says intelligence is 'immutable' while the paragraph only says it is difficult to alter.

Of the given sentences, C is the most general and hence the best opening statement. Sentence A, which is about the tensions between states in South East Asia adds to C. B talks about the threat China poses to South East Asian states and follows A. D sums up the paragraph.

According to the passage, grammar is fundamental to language. When grammar rules break down, confusion results. So, the main concern of the passage is best expressed by the line "bad grammar produces bad sentences."

Options A and B are easily eliminated, as they are about specific aspects of grammar. Option C is close, as this is also one of the concerns of the author-- a person may not be able to judge if they are "doing well" in their use of language. But between C and D, D is more general and the better choice.

Trickily worded question. One statement among the given ones, if false, supports the arguments of the passage. A better way to approach this question would be to find the statement, which, if true, does not support the arguments of the passage.

According to the passage, "Nouns and verbs are the two indispensable parts of writing." Option B, if true, states the exact opposite of what the passage says. So, B is the correct choice.

Note that options A, C and D, if true, support the arguments in the passage.

Though the passage says that there is "comforting simplicity" at the heart of grammar, it does not imply that the purpose of grammar is to make sentences simple.

Statements A, C and D can be inferred from these references in passage: "...a sentence is, by definition, a group of words containing a subject (noun) and a predicate (verb)...", "Must you write complete sentences each time, every time? Perish the thought", and "If your work consists only of fragments and floating clauses, the Grammar Police aren’t going to come and take you away."

"None of the statements is similar except..." can be understood as "only one statement is similar to...".

Of the given statements, A and C can be eliminated right away. Consider B. One apple tree in a field does not make an orchard. This is an exaggeration, while the given sentence is not. D, on the other hand, is similar to the given sentence.

The author urges writers to follow the rules of grammar: "...I urge you to consider: 'Unless he is certain of doing well, [the writer] will probably do best to follow the rules.'”

So, the author is most likely to be supportive of a tool that helps writers with grammar rules.

Note that the author is not against the use of rhetoric or critical of grammar rules. So, options A, B and C are easily eliminated.

Note the context in which the author uses the given words in paragraph 3. The author touches upon the reliable supply, measurements and quality of textiles. Transportation is not mentioned.

The last paragraph has the answer: “In actuality, our own currency system today has some similarities even as it is changing in front of our eyes...”

The last paragraph states that the modern currency system “is changing in front of our eyes” and describes the transformation taking place. According to the passage, both the modern currency system and that of Tang use different materials as currency, different currencies for different situations and the currencies fluctuate in value from time to time.

Note the context in which the author uses the given words in paragraph 3. The author touches upon the reliable supply, measurements and quality of textiles. Transportation is not mentioned.

According to the passage, the possible reason for dialects disappearing is that “as the population continued to expand and the islands kept on receiving immigrants from the original population, the calls in all locations would have eventually regressed to the average pulse rate of the founder colony”. If, instead, the call tempo of the immigrant seals changed to match that of the host colony (each of which has a different dialect), then dialects would be different.

Option A is incorrect as it is the immigrant male seals that change the average call tempo. Option B states exactly what happened, resulting in the diappearance of dialects. The scenario in option C would not change the outcome in any way.

According to the passage, over time, with migrations, the calls regressed to the average pulse rate of the founder colony in Isla Guadalupe. The passage does not indicate that the influx of new northern elephant seals into Año Nuevo Island would have made the call pulse rate of its male seals exceed that of those at Isla Guadalupe.

All other options can be inferred:
Option A: “At the individual level, the pulse of the calls stayed the same: A male would maintain his vocal signature throughout his lifetime.”
Option C: “This led Le Boeufvand his collaborator, Lewis Petrinovich, to deduce that the dialects were, perhaps, a result of isolation over time, after the breeding sites had been recolonized.”
Option D: “In the decades that followed, scientists noticed that the geographical variations reported in 1969 were not obvious anymore.”

The last few lines of the passage have the answer: “Modern males exhibit more individual diversity, and their calls are more complex. While 50 years ago the drumming pattern was quite simple and the dialects denoted just a change in tempo, Casey explained, the calls recorded today have more complex structures”.

Note the observation in paragraph 4: “At other sites, where the scientists found faster pulse rates, the opposite would have happened—seals with faster rates would have happened to arrive first.”

The passage makes no mention of the mainstream mistrust of collectivism.

In the last paragraph, the passage states that “there are, unsurprisingly, several traditions of individualist anarchism..”. So, option A is true.

Option C is true, based on paragraphs 3 and 4: “For anarchists the state itself is the enemy....because
every state keeps a watchful and sometimes punitive eye on its dissidents..”. Paragraph 3 talks about the “violence and terror” applied by centralised state power.

Option D is also true, based on paragraphs 2 and 3: French Revolution “had ended not only with a
reign of terror and the emergence of a newly rich ruling caste” and “workers and peasants, grasping the chance that arose to bring an end to centuries of exploitation and tyranny, were inevitably betrayed by the new class of politicians...”.

The passage clearly states that “for anarchists the state itself is the enemy and they have applied the same interpretation to the outcome of every revolution of the 19th and 20th centuries.”.

Note that option B is incorrect because it talks of the ‘primacy’ of the individual while anarchism puts emphasis on mutualism.

The passage discusses the French Revolution and goes on to state in paragraph 3 that “after every revolutionary uprising, usually won at a heavy cost for ordinary populations, the new rulers had no hesitation in applying violence and terror, a secret police, and a professional army to maintain their control.”So, option A is the correct choice.

Only options A and D mention anarchism, which is the main idea of the passage. Option A does not mention ‘freedom’ and individual’, which are discussed in the last two paragraphs. So, D is the best choice.

Individualist anarchism, according to the last paragraph, involves “protecting our own
autonomy and associating with others for common advantages”. The last line of the passage states that these thinkers “differed from free-market liberals in their absolute mistrust of American
capitalism, and in their emphasis on mutualism.”In other words, while both individualist anarchists and free-market thinkers agreed on the importance of individual autonomy, individualist anarchists distrusted capitalism and put emphasis on mutualism while free-market thinkers did not.

All other options mention ideas like state intervention in markets, morally upright capitalism and altrusim which are not discussed in the passage.

The author says that overlap of the mechanical and the lifelike increases year by year and that part of this bionic convergence is a matter of words. The point the author makes here is that the difference between the mechanical and the lifelike is becoming more and more blurred.

The convergence of bio-logic and technos-logic is the main idea of the passage. Option D contains all important keywords.
All other options contain words like carrots and Hosteins which are not keywords.

The question can be rephrased as only one of the given statements is implied by the passage.
Option C can be inferred from the passage based on the lines, "Genetic engineering is precisely what cattle breeders do when they select better strains of Holsteins, only bioengineers employ more precise and powerful control. While carrot and milk cow breeders had to rely on diffuse organic evolution, modern genetic engineers can use directed artificial evolution—purposeful design—which greatly accelerates improvements."
The passage says that directed artificial evolution or purposeful design is used by genetic engineers but it does not state or imply that this is "the pinnacle of scientific expertise". So, option A is out.
The passage clearly states that the logic of the Bios is more complex than the logic of machines. So, option B is incorrect.
According to the passage, many philosophers in the past have "suspected" one could abstract the laws of life and apply them elsewhere. Option D is incorrect as it says philosophers have known this.

The given statement implies that the lines demarking the organic and the manufactured have blurred and the two are and have always been the same. In other words, scientific advances are making it increasingly difficult to distinguish between organic reality and manufactured reality.

If the sentences were to be arranged in a paragraph, B would be the best opening sentence as it sets the context. BD is a link: B talks about hate speech detection while D explains how it works. AE is also a link: sentence A talks about biases arising due to training data. E gives an example of how flawed training data affects algorithms. BDAE is a possible sequence. C is the odd one out.

DA is a link. D talks of various concepts being applied to the central nervous system. Sentence A is about the central nervous system. D, however, is not the opening sentence of the paragraph, as it talks of the 'exaptation' concept and 'Russian doll organisation' concept, the meaning of which is not clear from D. B explains what exaptation is and C what Russsian doll organisation is. So, BCDA is the right order.

The official answer puts C after D which is incorrect, as the Russian Doll concept is introduced in C.

The sentences relate to subject of being a woman versus being feminine. EB is a link. The sentences are structured similarly and state what signifies what. Sentence A relates to the same idea. AEB is a possible sequence. Between C and D, D fits better to the idea in B--the measure of the feminine ideal.

C, which is about how the 'make-over centric media' set out to define 'good' and 'bad' ways to be a woman, is the odd one out.

C is the best opening sentence. C talks of seven popular Japanese deities. Sentence A adds to C, stating that each one personified a different aspect of good fortune. DB is a clear link, D talks of two of the deities, and B the others. CADB is hence the right order.

The main idea of the paragraph is that aesthetic political representation requires that the actor has autonomy with regard to the portrayal and that this involves the cultivation of disinterestedness (which is different from indifference) on part of the actors. Option B captures the essence of the paragraph.

Option A talks of a "non-subjective evaluation of things", something that is not mentioned in the paragraph. Option C does not include the key word 'aesthetic'. Option D states that autonomy is "manifested through" (shown clearly by) disinterestedness. The paragraph only urges the cultivation of disinterestedness in order to liberate oneself from all ulterior references.

Sentence D is the best opening sentence as it sets the context, discussing the principle behind antitrust law. DA is a sequence: the pronoun 'it' that A starts with clearly applies to the Chicago school mentioned in D. BC is also a link:B talks about the consistent growth of tech titans and C attributes this to the dearth of enforcement actions. So, DABC is the correct order.

The paragraph starts with the idea that metabolic theory may provide a conceptual foundation for ecology just as genetic theory did for evolutionary biology. It goes on to explain how the genetic theory worked: through wide array of genetic models loosely connected to each other through theshared conceptual foundation. Option B captures both ideas.

Option A states that metabolic theory "must have" the same range of theoretical approaches and applications. This is not what the paragraph says. Option C does not mention metabolic theory while option D is incorrect, based on the information in the paragraph.

Trickily worded question. The option that, if false, supports the author's claims is the one that, if true, does not support the author's claims.

From the first line of the passage, we know that the author has been following the economic crisis for more than two years. The author clearly states that he is "not sure the idea of a huge gap between science and the arts is as true as it was half a century ago". Also, according to the author, "many bright, literate people have no idea about all sorts of economic basics". So, options A, B and D, if true, support the author's claims.

On the other hand, the author states that the crisis was due to "the sluggishness of the world’s governments" not preparing for the great unraveling of autumn 2008 . The statement that the economic crisis was not a failure of collective action to rectify economic problems goes against the author's view. So, option C, if true, does not support the author's claims.

From the first line of the passage, we understand that the author has been following the economic crisis for more than two years, i.e not less than two years.

The main idea of the last paragraph is stated in the line, "after decades in which the ideology of the Western world was personally and economically individualistic, we’ve suddenly been hit by a crisis which shows in the starkest terms that whether we like it or not—and there are large parts of it that you would have to be crazy to like—we’re all in this together". Option C captures this idea well.

The author calls the crisis "absolutely amazing story, full of human interest and drama, one whose byways of mathematics, economics, and psychology are both central to the story". So, Option A is in line with the arguments in the passage.

While beginning to work on the crisis the author wrote that was extending the laws to control risky investment vehicles was essential to avoid a global financial disaster. Option B, too, is in line with the arguments in the passage.

The author also states that "there is a need to narrow that gap, if the financial industry is not to be a kind of priesthood, administering to its own mysteries and feared and resented by the rest of us". In other words, financial matters have become very arcane and difficult to understand. So, option D supports the arguments in the passage.

However, in the last paragraph, the author states that the economic crisis shows the failure of the personally and economically individualistic ideology of the Western world. So, option C, if true, does not support the arguments in the passage.

The author laments the fact that many bright, literate people have no idea about all sorts of economic basics. So, he is likely to be supportive of an educational curriculum that promotes developing financial literacy in the masses.

Note that option A is incorrect as it talks of economic "research". There is no basis for options C and D in the passage.