55 spoilers are the big aerodynamic fins that push the cars downward as they speed along, increasing traction and handling. The birds were doing the very same thing with their wings to help them scramble up otherwise impossible slopes.
60 Ken called the technique WAIR, for wing-assisted incline running, and went on to document it in a wide range of species. It not only allowed young birds to climb vertical surfaces within the first few weeks of life but also gave adults an energy-efficient 65 alternative to flying. In the Chukar experiments, adults regularly used WAIR to ascend ramps steeper than 90 degrees, essentially running up the wall and onto the ceiling.
In an evolutionary context, WAIR takes on 70 surprising explanatory powers. With one fell swoop, the Dials came up with a viable origin for the flapping flight stroke of birds (something gliding animals don?t do and thus a shortcoming of the tree-down theory) and an aerodynamic function for 75 half-formed wings (one of the main drawbacks to the ground-up hypothesis).
21. Which choice best reflects the overall sequence of events in the passage?
A) An experiment is proposed but proves unworkable; a less ambitious
experiment is attempted, and it yields data that give rise to a new set of questions.
B) A new discovery leads to reconsideration of a theory; a classic study is adapted, and the results are summarized.
C) An anomaly is observed and simulated experimentally; the results are compared with previous findings, and a novel hypothesis is proposed.
D) An unexpected finding arises during the early phase of a study; the study is modified in response to this finding, and the results are interpreted and evaluated.
22. As used in line 7, ―challenged‖ most nearly means A) dared. B) required. C) disputed with. D) competed with.
23. Which statement best captures Ken Dial‘s central assumption in setting up his research?
A) The acquisition of flight in young birds sheds light on the acquisition of flight in their evolutionary ancestors.
B) The tendency of certain young birds to jump erratically is a somewhat recent evolved behavior.
C) Young birds in a controlled research setting are less likely than birds in the wild to require perches when at rest.
D) Ground-dwelling and tree-climbing predecessors to birds evolved in parallel.
24. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
A) Lines 1-4 (―At field . . . parents‖) B) Lines 6-11 (―So when . . . fly‖) C) Lines 16-19 (―When . . . measured‖) D) Lines 23-24 (―At first . . . the ground‖)
25. In the second paragraph (lines 12-32), the incident involving the local rancher mainly serves to
A) reveal Ken Dial‘s motivation for undertaking his project.
B) underscore certain differences between laboratory and field research. C) show how an unanticipated piece of information influenced Ken Dial‘s research.
D) introduce a key contributor to the tree-down theory.
26. After Ken Dial had his ―?aha‘ moment‖ (line 41), he A) tried to train the birds to fly to their perches.
B) studied videos to determine why the birds no longer hopped. C) observed how the birds dealt with gradually steeper inclines. D) consulted with other researchers who had studied Chukar Partridges.
27.The passage identifies which of the following as a factor that facilitated the baby Chukars‘ traction on steep ramps?
A) The speed with which they climbed B) The position of their flapping wings C) The alternation of wing and foot movement D) Their continual hopping motions
28. As used in line 61, ―document‖ most nearly means A) portray. B) record.
C) publish. D) process.
29. What can reasonably be inferred about gliding animals from the passage?
A) Their young tend to hop along beside their parents instead of flying beside them.
B) Their method of locomotion is similar to that of ground birds. C) They use the ground for feeding more often than for perching. D) They do not use a flapping stroke to aid in climbing slopes.
30. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
A) Lines 4-6 (―They jumped . . . air‖) B) Lines 28-29 (―They really . . . traveling‖) C) Lines 57-59 (―The birds . . . slopes‖) D) Lines 72-74 (―something . . . theory‖)
Questions 31-41 are based on the following passages.
Passage 1 is adapted from Talleyrand et al., Report on Public Instruction. Originally published in 1791. Passage 2 is adapted from Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Originally published in 1792. Talleyrand was a French diplomat; the Report was a plan for national education. Wollstonecraft, a British novelist and political writer, wrote Vindication in response to Talleyrand.
Passage 1
That half the human race is excluded by the other half from any participation in government; that they are native by birth but foreign by law in the very land w
here they were born; and that they are 5 property-owners yet have no direct influence or representation: are all political phenomena apparently impossible to explain on abstract principle. But on another level of ideas, the question changes and may be easily resolved. The purpose of 10 all these institutions must be the happiness of the greatest number. Everything that leads us farther from this purpose is in error; everything that brings us closer is truth. If the exclusion from public employments decreed against women leads to a 15 greater sum of mutual happiness for the two sexes, then this becomes a law that all Societies have been compelled to acknowledge and sanction.
Any other ambition would be a reversal of our primary destinies; and it will never be in women?s 20 interest to change the assignment they have received. It seems to us incontestable that our common happiness, above all that of women, requires that they never aspire to the exercise of political rights and functions. Here we must seek their interests in 25 the wishes of nature. Is it not apparent, that their delicate constitutions, their peaceful inclinations, and the many duties of motherhood, set them apart from strenuous habits and onerous duties, and summon them to gentle occupations and the cares of the 30 home? And is it not evident that the great conserving principle of Societies, which makes the division of powers a source of harmony, has been expressed and