Official Explanation
1. Which of the following best describes the relationship of the second paragraph to the passage as a whole?Difficulty Level:
HardStep 1: Identify the question.The language the relationship of the second paragraph to the passage as a whole in the question stem indicates that this is a Paragraph question. Your task is to determine what role this paragraph plays in the overall simple story.
Step 2: Find the support.Review your notes on the
second paragraph, paying attention to how it relates to the other paragraphs. Or, glance back at the second paragraph, as well as several lines immediately before and after it.
Step 3: Predict an answer.One test-taker’s map of this passage might look like this:
Attachment:
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The point is something like
“We still don’t know who made AM or how it was made, but it was surprisingly accurate at predicting solar eclipses.” The first paragraph introduces the point. The second paragraph talks about how very complex eclipses are, underscoring the surprising fact that the AM is pretty accurate given that whoever made it didn’t have any of the sophisticated equipment that is available today.
The second paragraph, then, is providing additional information to support the claim made in the first paragraph (that AM is surprisingly accurate given how old it is).
Step 4: Eliminate and find a match.(A) CORRECT. This matches what the second paragraph does.
(B) Whoops! Time to look at the third paragraph, too. That paragraph talks more about who might have invented AM. The third paragraph isn’t rejecting anything from the second paragraph, so this choice can’t be right.
(C) This one’s closer. The first paragraph, though, didn’t propose a theory as to who made this thing or how it was made; it just says that we still don’t know.
(D) The first paragraph could be described as a discussion of a problem. But the second paragraph does not propose a solution to that conundrum. (The third paragraph could be described this way.)
(E) Drawing a parallel would be making a connection between two separate phenomena, or events. The passage does not discuss two such events. Further, the second paragraph elaborates on the point discussed in the first paragraph, so answer
(A) is a better match.
Answer: A 2. It can be inferred from the third paragraph that
Difficulty Level: Easy
Step 1: Identify the question.
The word inferred in the question stem indicates that this is an Inference question.
Step 2: Find the support.
Support can be found in lines:
Recent analysis dating the device to 205 BC, earlier than previously thought, suggests that the eclipse prediction mechanism was based not on Greek trigonometry but on Babylonian arithmetical methods borrowed by the Greeks. This conjecture makes plausible Cicero’s claim that Archimedes created the mechanism, as Greek trigonometry was nonexistent in 205 BC.
Step 3: Predict an answer.
What can be inferred? The device was once thought to have been created later than 205 BC. If they now think that it was based on Babylonian arithmetical methods, then those methods must have been in existence already in 205 BC.
Step 4: Eliminate and find a match.
(A) The paragraph doesn’t address what most people believe about how sophisticated the Ancient Greeks were.
(B) CORRECT. This matches the predicted answer: the Babylonian methods were already in existence by 205 BC. The passage states that Greek trigonometry was nonexistent in 205 BC, so the Babylonian math predated the Greek math.
(C) The paragraph indicates only that Cicero thinks Archimedes may have created the mechanism; it does not mention other thinkers.
(D) The third paragraph does not indicate this; in fact, the second paragraph appears to contradict it.
(E) The third paragraph does not indicate this; if anything, the second paragraph implies the opposite.
Answer: B
3. According to the passage, which of the following statements about the Antikythera Mechanism is true?
Difficulty Level: Medium
Step 1: Identify the question.
According to the passage indicates that this is a Specific Detail question. What is true of the Antikythera Mechanism? The passage includes several facts.
Step 2: Predict an answer.
The correct answer should match one of the descriptive facts given about the Antikythera Mechanism.
Step 3: Eliminate and find a match.
(A) Cicero claims this; the passage indicates, however, that the creator is still not definitively known.
(B) It predated similar technology by 1,000 years, but it is believed to have been created in 205 BC, more than 2,000 years ago.
(C) It was discovered in 1901; it was created much earlier.
(D) The first paragraph indicates that it was considered the world’s first analog computer.
(E) CORRECT. This information is found in the last sentence of the second paragraph.
Answer: E
4. According to the passage, which of the following is true about the orbit of the Earth around the Sun?
Difficulty Level: Hard
Step 1: Identify the question.
According to the passage indicates that this is a Specific Detail question.
Step 2: Find the support.
Support can be found in the second paragraph:
…the Earth’s orbit around the Sun is also elliptical such that, depending on the time of year, the Earth is gradually traveling nearer to or farther from the Sun.
Step 3: Predict an answer.
The orbit is elliptical, which seems to mean that the Earth is sometimes closer to the Sun and sometimes farther away.
Step 4: Eliminate and find a match.
(A) The passage indicates that the Antikythera Mechanism was relatively reliable even without telescopes.
(B) The third paragraph discusses trigonometry in relation to the Antikythera Mechanism (and, further, says that it was probably not used).
(C) The Earth’s orbit is elliptical…what about the Moon’s?
Check the passage.
Paragraph 1:…the irregular motions of the Moon caused by its elliptical orbit around the Earth. The Moon’s orbit is also elliptical.
(D) CORRECT. The orbits of the Earth and of the Moon are both elliptical.
(E) The second paragraph indicates that the opposite is true: the two planes are not the same.
Answer: D
5. The passage suggests which of the following about models that predict solar eclipses?
Difficulty Level: Hard
Step 1: Identify the question.
The word suggests indicates that this is an Inference question. The question asks about models that predict solar eclipses in general, not just the Antikythera Mechanism in particular, so expect the correct answer to be based on broader information about such devices.
Step 2: Find the support.
Support can be found in the first and second paragraphs:
Accurately predicting lunar and solar eclipses, as well as solar, lunar, and planetary positions, it predated similar technology by 1,000 years.
While in modern times the use of satellites, telescopes, and other high-tech equipment has greatly enhanced our capacity for such calculations, when the Antikythera Mechanism was created, the sole source of information available to scientists was observation of the night sky.
Step 3: Predict an answer.
The correct answer should convey something that must be true about solar eclipse prediction models in general.
Step 4: Eliminate and find a match.
(A) The Antikythera Mechanism is described as fairly accurate, and it was created approximately 2,000 years ago.
(B) The passage indicates only that this was the earliest known model, not that it is or was the only one at the time of its discovery.
(C) CORRECT. The first paragraph says that the Antikythera Mechanism predated similar technology by 1,000 years (lines 23–24). In other words, at least one additional type of solar eclipse model was made.
(D) This is mentioned only in relation to the Antikythera Mechanism specifically.
(E) The Antikythera Mechanism is described as relatively accurate, not unpredictable. Further, such models is too broad; ancient models might be considered antiques, but the question stem could refer to any models that predict solar eclipses, including modern ones.
Answer: C