Shorter GRE - Reading Comprehension Definitive Guide with Examples

Question

Shorter GRE - Reading Comprehension Definitive Guide

IMPORTANT

GRE tutor bessonov have created a marvelous file in which are indexed all the Official Questions , both quant and verbal, by topic

GRE Official Guide Questions Sorted by Topic

PLEASE Guys/Students use the link down below

\(\Longrightarrow\) https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... 1864934436

Hi folks,

The Definitive Guide for the new GRE - Reading Comprehension is out.

All you need is explained in very detail for the RC portion/questions of the Test

These are the chapters.

Thank you

carcass · Answer

Shorter GRE-Reading Comprehension General Strategy

No matter how old you study for this test, no matter which way you take to handle this section or improve your overall verbal score the problem remains unsolved: people DO NOT know how to improve their score, actually because they do not know how to overcome RC passages during the exam.

It is the most neglected and underrated part of the test. Still, it is the most important. That said, for two main reasons:

First of all, people do not want to understand that the quant part of the test is crucial for a good score, indeed. That is true but is only part of the story. ETS does not care if you do not know some math formula or pick some questions wrong. They care more about your verbal part than quant. If you want a score above 160, yes, you must do well in both legs. But if you want a good score for your application and is enough for most cases, you must do well in the verbal part more than in quant. People constantly do the precise contrary.
As it turns out, to do well and increase your verbal score, you must do well in RC, no matter what.
 
 Secondly, if you are good at TC and SE is a big deal but is not sufficient. Whenever you deal with a problematic passage, convoluted and awkward, then you are lost. As such, your score is ruined simply because you will find yourself in a situation that is detrimental to your performance: you DO NOT know how to handle a passage in the allotted time. This is at most. The minimum will not understand anything.

How can I understand the difficult passages that GRE popup us into the screen ?? how much time should I spent on this sub-section of the exam ?? 
 
 How many passages should I practice before to reach a solid base or a really good proficiency ?? 
 
  How much practice should I do ? 
 
Reading is a skill that most of the students learn and start to nourish the first grade. A skill, however, rarely taught to them after middle school. Rarely after that throughout the college. At least not in a sense specifically tested on the GRE. It is also true that many people feed, polish, and improve their reading skills across their life span but also, in this case, not in a proficiency mood specifically useful for this challenging test. For the GRE, you should practice reading the academic-level composition. Spending even 10 minutes a day familiarizing and dedicating yourself to difficult and intricated passages and lectures could make the real difference. With reading comprehension, the GRE is trying a fundamental ability in business: your capacity to look over thick materials and perceive the critical and significant data. In business college and the past, this will be significant not just in your day-by-day perusing of influential papers, yet additionally in your capacity to figure out dreary business reports and correspondence. But reading on the GRE is not pleasure reading; it takes concentration and discipline to focus on the often-convoluted passages about unusual and unfamiliar topics. This exercise is designed to reward those who can efficiently sort through technical jargon and unimportant details to find the relevant takeaways.

Nonetheless, we do need to get a step back in the story "how to tackle" high dense, long and short, convoluted passages on the GRE. What I am saying following these words is crucial for a student who aims to highest score. I would not say that this is more important than the skills I will teach you soon. However, it is at the core to success on the verbal side and the quant side. In this way: nailing all the right questions during the verbal exam is like being a badass driver. You are the Ayrton Senna of the situation. The way you drive your car has no secrets. However, to drive a car, you must have a driving license.

Well, understand what the GRE tests are for your driving license. It is your passport to score high.

What Does the GRE test?

The GRE is designed to:

• Predict student success in business school, allowing schools to accept those most likely to be successful.
• Measure higher-order thinking abilities through quantitative reasoning and verbal reasoning.

Simply put, the GRE is a test of how you think, not a test of what you know.

Put it in simple words; the GRE is a holistic approach to problem-solving. As I pointed out several times, it is a non-zero game. Therefore we do need something that goes and push us even further.

https://gre.myprepclub.com/forum/download/file.php?mode=view&id=16497

What you MUST know BEFORE attempting any type of RC passage ?

The following crucial THREE aspects MUST be carved in the mind of a student when he/she approaches any type of RC passage. Like a mantra. Moreover, any tutor must address this before teaching you any possible strategy or if you are a self student, you must be aware of these three;

1) - When you read an RC passage, WHY ARE YOU READING THE PASSAGE ? WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR ?

Main Idea
Logic of the passage
Inference
Organization
Purpose or scope of the passage
Tone of the passage - you do not have to identify this precisely, but you should have a sense or "feeling" of the passage. (Most passages are very objective/factual/neutral. There is not much of an identifiable "tone"). You do not have to identify or pinpoint the tone explicitly unless it is asked by one of the questions along the passage

WHAT ARE YOU NOT LOOKING FOR ? 
   You do NOT want to read for DETAILS

2) -  YOU MUST READ FOR SOMETHING ?

It is much easier to read FOR something rather than just read a passage.

To direct your reading efficiently and effectively - to give you something to read FOR - you must look for two FOCUS questions

What is the main point of the passage? What does it telling us?
  What is the point of each smaller unit (usually each paragraph)?
  The point is NEVER just to inform or to list a bunch of facts/facts/facts in a sterile sequence

If the passage presents facts or details, WHY ARE THEY THERE? WHAT IS JUSTIFIED/EXPLAINED by those facts or details?

3) - HOW THE DIFFERENT TYPE OF QUESTIONS ON RC FUNCTION

This is important to know how the test works and how it is constructed, which will help you to improve your probability to nail every single question and the passage as a whole correctly.

What is tested through an RC passage is your way of thinking and the interplay, always between two extremes of the Thinking Spectrum.

https://gre.myprepclub.com/forum/download/file.php?mode=view&id=16498

Notice how the questions on the left extreme of the spectrum (main idea and so on) are IMPOSSIBLE to solve with formal logic and/or rules.
Those on the right extreme of the spectrum, you will be misled by using real-world thinking on these question types

Read also    Shorter GRE - Trick To Boost Your Reading Speed by 35%

Source : Ron Purewal Manhattan Study Hall 
The images are a personal elaboration of the author of this post!!

carcass · Answer

Shorter GRE-Reading Strategy for Long Passages

After September 22 and the inception of the new, shorter GRE, we started to collect feedback from the students and what they saw during the exam: more QCQ and less PS, more TC and less long reading passages, and so forth. Please, refer to our discussion to see a possible pattern in the new GRE and how the score is calculated. Shorter GRE - How score is calculated & the new exam pattern 2023.

According to multiple feedback, what we do know so far about the RC part of the test is the following:

between the first verbal part of the test and the second part, in general, the RC portion accounts for \(\approx 50\)% of the questions.
students reported they saw in the vast majority of the cases, medium passages that are , usually, two paragraphs in length. I.E. medium reading
some students reported that he/she had one long reading in each of the two chunks of the verbal test. I.E the long reading , therefore, is not deprecated by the GRe as we thought in the first place.
The long passages are still there, maybe less frequent than before.

The structure of a long reading passage

When you deal with an extended reading on the GRE, it is essential to understand the structure at a glance. Why it is so important to score well can be summarized as follows.

Suppose you have a compare and contrast structure, and you pinpoint it thanks to transition words. The benefits of this are probably more than not in the first half of the passage, we do have someone who supports theory x with examples and details of experiments. In the second part, another person or scientist supports or discovers something new that disproves what we knew before and opens new ways or paths to investigate. This kind of structure will help you to create a map of the passage, pinpoint the main idea, and know where important details are scattered throughout the passage. Therefore, it will be easier for you, for example, to spot the main idea to reply to an inference question because you have more more precise understanding of the passage as a whole.
A person's ability to comprehend, recall, and write effectively is impacted by their comprehension of how text is structured and how it discloses the author's concepts and arrangement.
Skilled individuals who read efficiently utilize their comprehension of text structures to grasp the main ideas within the text. When prompted to recollect the information they have read, their synopses mirror the arrangement of the text.
Reading comprehension is facilitated by the structure of text. Readers can identify relevant information, including prominent ideas as well as relations between and among ideas, when the text is presented in a clear and well-organized manner.

In a more advanced passage such as on the GRE, the most common reading passage structures are the following

Description
sequence
problem and solution
cause and effect
compare and contrast

The way we identify the structures above is via signal words as marvelously suggested by Karin K. Hess in Teaching and Assessing Understanding of Text Structures across Grades at Center of Assessment.

How we attack a long passage, disentangling it

There is no perfect formula to nail a challenging GRE passage. It all depends on the student's habits, how he/she thinks, how the student approaches the passage, and several other variables that occur at that moment. Therefore , everything could work but also do not.

What does NOT work is:

read each paragraph's first and last sentence.
skimming the passage, trying to pinpoint key points.
read the question first, BEFORE reading the passage, trying to circumvent and speed up the process.

What DOES work, and in my personal view,:

A consideration before moving ahead: the GRE gives you passage for a simple reason: to assess if you are able to understand what you read and reply to the questions accordingly. IF this was not true or there were shortcuts to apply, then why the GRE itself exists as an exam for the student......the entire exam would not have much sense!!!

READ the entire passage from the head down. . This is the best strategy I could advise to you. Some students think they waste time evaluating upfront the entire passage. Instead, they SAVE time because when you understand the passage, having in mind a clear map of it where the details are located without delving too much into them; having clear the passage's main idea, they potentially can reply to the questions right away. It is like having in front of you, crystal clear, the answers.
Go through the passage, paying attention to the signal words, to the shifts in the passage. Ask yourself constantly why the passage is saying that and why that sentence is there.

Keep in mind that a long passage always has a regular structure; therefore, we could outline the following:

- Intro Paragraph -- Summary IMPORTANT
- Body Paragraphs:
- - Topic sentence IMPORTANT
- - Details that support the topic sentence

Let see in operation a passage and how to solve it, right away

A "scientistic" view of language was dominant among philosophers and linguists who affected to develop a scientific analysis of human thought and behavior in the early part of this century. Under the force of this view, it was perhaps inevitable that the art of rhetoric should pass from the status of being regarded as of questionable worth (because although it might be both a source of pleasure and a means to urge people to right action, it might also be a means to distort truth and a source of misguided action) to the status of being wholly condemned. If people are regarded only as machines guided by logic, as they were by these "scientistic" thinkers, rhetoric is likely to be held in low regard; for the most obvious truth about rhetoric is that it speaks to the whole person. It presents its arguments first to the person as a rational being, because persuasive discourse, if honestly conceived, always has a basis in reasoning. Logical argument is the plot, as it were, of any speech or essay that is respectfully intended to persuade people. Yet it is a characterizing feature of rhetoric that it goes beyond this and appeals to the parts of our nature that are involved in feeling, desiring, acting, and suffering. It recalls relevant instances of the emotional reactions of people to circumstances-real or fictional-that are similar to our own circumstances. Such is the purpose of both historical accounts and fables in persuasive discourse: they indicate literally or symbolically how people may react emotionally, with hope or fear, to particular circumstances. A speech attempting to persuade people can achieve little unless it takes into account the aspect of their being related to such hopes and fears.

Rhetoric, then, is addressed to human beings living at particular times and in particular places. From the point of view of rhetoric, we are not merely logical thinking machines, creatures abstracted from time and space. The study of rhetoric should therefore be considered the most humanistic of the humanities, since rhetoric is not directed only to our rational selves. It takes into account what the "scientistic" view leaves out.If it is a weakness to harbor feelings, then rhetoric may be thought of as dealing in weakness. But those who reject the idea of rhetoric because they believe it deals in lies and who at the same time hope to move people to action, must either be liars themselves or be very naive; pure logic has never been a motivating force unless it has been subordinated to human purposes, feelings, and desires, and thereby ceased to be pure logic.

21) According to the passage, to reject rhetoric and still hope to persuade people is

A an aim of most speakers and writers
B an indication either of dishonesty or of credulity
C a way of displaying distrust of the audience's motives
D a characteristic of most humanistic discourse
E a way of avoiding excessively abstract reasoning

22) It can be inferred from the passage that in the late nineteenth century rhetoric was regarded as

A the only necessary element of persuasive discourse
B a dubious art in at least two ways
C an outmoded and tedious amplification of logic
D an open offense to the rational mind
E the most important of the humanistic studies

23) The passage suggests that the disparagement of rhetoric by some people can be traced to their

A reaction against science
B lack of training in logic
C desire to persuade people as completely as possible
D misunderstanding of the use of the term "scientistic"
E view of human motivation

24) The passage suggests that a speech that attempts to persuade people to act is likely to fail if it does NOT

A distort the truth a little to make it more acceptable to the audience
B appeal to the self-interest as well as the humanitarianism of the audience
C ddress listeners' emotions as well as their intellects
D concede the logic of other points of view
E show how an immediately desirable action is consistent with timeless principles

25) The passage suggests that to consider people as "thinking machines" is to consider them as

A beings separated from a historical context
B replaceable parts of a larger social machine
C more complex than other animals
D liars rather than honest people
E infallible in their reasoning

26) Which of the following persuasive devices is NOT used in the passage?

A A sample of an actual speech delivered by an orator
B The contrast of different points of view
C The repetition of key ideas and expressions
D An analogy that seeks to explain logical argument
E Evaluative or judgmental words

27) Which of the following best states the author's main point about logical argument?

A It is a sterile, abstract discipline, of little use in real life.
B It is an essential element of persuasive discourse, but only one such element.
C It is an important means of persuading people to act against their desires.
D It is the lowest order of discourse because it is the least imaginative.
E It is essential to persuasive discourse because it deals with universal truths.

EXPLANATION of the PASSAGE

1) To me the best strategy is to read the passage first. Of course, IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOUR LEVEL OF English Language - remember: these official passages are at an academic level, therefore, do not pretend they are the flyer to read of some grocery store. These are serious stuff

2) When I read the passage I do not take notes. I just read for something NOT just a sequence of facts facts and that's it. I do not read to something. I read FOR something. I at most re-read a sentence to stick out which is its role or it has something very important.

3) Now: this is a passage from the Big Book which has 7 questions. The actual RC are the same but a bit shorter and with at most 4 questions. But in terms of consistency, they are the same. Therefore, the passages from the BB are amazing for your exam
Making the count: you should take from 4 to seven minutes to read a long passage and 1 minute per question. Even though this is average in terms of timing, I stay conservative: I try to stick to the minor timing i.e 4 minutes. Plus 1 minute for the questions. This passage has 7 questions. As such, I should take 11/12 minutes to finish. If it was an actual RC passage, the timing should be 8 minutes.

I did it in 3.50 minutes with my phone timer. How this is possible..............ok I will show you with this tough Rc (not the super crazy though in terms of difficulty) but really super tough

Remember: I read the passage ONCE and for all and then I go straight to the questions, one by one. No hesitation

Please also, see my guide about time management https://gre.myprepclub.com/forum/gre-ti ... tml#p57079

I am going to explain the passage in its essence, step by step

Quote:

A "scientistic" view of language was dominant among philosophers and linguists who helped to develop a scientific analysis of human thought and behavior in the early part of this century.

In brief, among the scholars, the view that went the most was a scientific approach when they analyzed the human behavior and mind, our thoughts.

Quote:

Under the force of this view, it was perhaps inevitable that the art of rhetoric should pass from the status of being regarded as of questionable worth (because although it might be both a source of pleasure and a means to urge people to right action, it might also be a means to distort the truth and a source of misguided action) to the status of being wholly condemned.

Now, the key or central focus here is the rhetoric (do not bother you what is: if you do know is better, if not..whatever. Just think is something to keep in mind: the rhetoric, that's it).

Analyzing the rhetoric, the scientist we mention in the first sentence had a scientific approach. Therefore, the result, following this, is that the rhetoric itself went from a phenomenon that was questionable i.e. the implication was that the rhetoric had some doubt. An important point is what we do have inside the brackets: on one hand, the rhetoric calls people to action so it is NOT that bad but on the other hand, the rhetoric distorts the truth. hence, it could be a razor edge with pros and cons.

To recap: a scientific approach shifted the rhetoric from a point on the edge: maybe it is good, maybe it is bad to a level definitely bad: wholly condemned.

Quote:

If people are regarded only as machines guided by logic, as they were by these "scientistic" thinkers, rhetoric is likely to be held in low regard; for the most obvious truth about rhetoric is that it speaks to the whole person.

This is a sentence a bit difficult to grasp: IF we apply to the rhetoric ONLY the logic or the scientific approach we lose the grasp. i.e. we only see part of the story or we DO NOT understand fully the thoughts of a person. We would need to see more than that

Quote:

It presents its arguments first to the person as a rational being, because persuasive discourse, if honestly conceived, always has a basis in reasoning.

Here is crucial to understand the pronoun IT at the beginning of the sentence refers to. It is not so clear but is the scientific approach. The sentence says: a person is a rational entity. That's the meaning

Quote:

Logical argument is the plot, as it were, of any speech or essay that is respectfully intended to persuade people. Yet it is a characterizing feature of rhetoric that it goes beyond this and appeals to the parts of our nature that are involved in feeling, desiring, acting, and suffering.

In persuading people the logical argument is the basement. However, it also pertains to the rhetoric BUT as it turns out it goes beyond simple logic and encompasses also the nature of a person

Notice: this is an inference part. It is important but you should understand it but pass through fast.

Quote:

It recalls relevant instances of the emotional reactions of people to circumstances-real or fictional-that are similar to our own circumstances. Such is the purpose of both historical accounts and fables in persuasive discourse: they indicate literally or symbolically how people may react emotionally, with hope or fear, to particular circumstances. A speech attempting to persuade people can achieve little unless it takes into account the aspect of their being related to such hopes and fears.

The rhetoric is important because shows us the other nature side of a person: that related to his/her feeling and the situations he/she lives. A speech that tries to address something ONLY from the logical standing point will end up failing. Miserably

Quote:

Rhetoric, then, is addressed to human beings living at particular times and in particular places. From the point of view of rhetoric, we are not merely logical thinking machines, creatures abstracted from time and space.

This second paragraph goes down deeper of what is rhetoric. We are not logic machines but human beings. Pretty simple

Quote:

The study of rhetoric should therefore be considered the most humanistic of the humanities, since rhetoric is not directed only to our rational selves. It takes into account what the "scientistic" view leaves out.If it is a weakness to harbor feelings, then rhetoric may be thought of as dealing in weakness.

The study of rhetoric is essential because considered the most humanistic of the humanities. It comprehends NOT only the logic and scientific side but also the human side: specifically rhetoric takes into account our weakness

Quote:

But those who reject the idea of rhetoric because they believe it deals in lies and who at the same time hope to move people to action, must either be liars themselves or be very naive; pure logic has never been a motivating force unless it has been subordinated to human purposes, feelings, and desires, and thereby ceased to be pure logic.

This part is very important

Those who disregard the rhetoric just as something that deals with lies BUT at the same time want to mobilize people which is a typical feature that rhetoric has and conversely the scientific approach does not.....is a LIAR him or herself
Logic thinking is arid, a desert because it does not comprehend the emotions of a person, the feeling

The portion above is very important. In a nutshell, tell us our mind, our logic is pivotal but ALSO our heart.

EXPLANATION of the QUESTIONS

21) According to the passage, to reject rhetoric and still hope to persuade people is

We said from the passage that who thinks to ignore the rhetoric but want to move the people is a LIAR. B in 3 seconds to pick it up. It is very before our eyes

A an aim of most speakers and writers
B an indication either of dishonesty or of credulity
C a way of displaying distrust of the audience's motives
D a characteristic of most humanistic discourse
E a way of avoiding excessively abstract reasoning

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

22) It can be inferred from the passage that in the late nineteenth century rhetoric was regarded as

According to my explanations above, it is straight B: did you remember the razor edge, saw maybe was good maybe was bad but the definitely bad because the rhetoric could hide the truth ?' well, B is the answer

A the only necessary element of persuasive discourse
B a dubious art in at least two ways
C an outmoded and tedious amplification of logic
D an open offense to the rational mind
E the most important of the humanistic studies

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

23) The passage suggests that the disparagement of rhetoric by some people can be traced to their

A reaction against science
B lack of training in logic
C desire to persuade people as completely as possible
D misunderstanding of the use of the term "scientistic"
E view of human motivation

The disparagement means denigration BUT even if you do not know what that means is a negative thing for sure. Cannot be a positive thing. It is crystal clear.

Why some people throw out the rhetoric ?? Because they care about only logic without regard to the emotional side of a person. Immediately E.

Try to see thanks to my explanation above which is the correct answer. ASAP you read through the option, immediately you see the other bogus choices. IMMEDIATELY

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

24) The passage suggests that a speech that attempts to persuade people to act is likely to fail if it does NOT

A distort the truth a little to make it more acceptable to the audience
B appeal to the self-interest as well as the humanitarianism of the audience
C address listeners' emotions as well as their intellects
D concede the logic of other points of view
E show how an immediately desirable action is consistent with timeless principles

If the speech does not address in it also the emotions, then it will fail: both logic and emotions. C in two seconds

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

25) The passage suggests that to consider people as "thinking machines" is to consider them as

A beings separated from a historical context
B replaceable parts of a larger social machine
C more complex than other animals
D liars rather than honest people
E infallible in their reasoning

My explanation clearly stated that we are logical but also feeling. Moreover, we are related to our context. Where we live if you want to think about

A immediately as option

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

26) Which of the following persuasive devices is NOT used in the passage?

A A sample of an actual speech delivered by an orator
B The contrast of different points of view
C The repetition of key ideas and expressions
D An analogy that seeks to explain logical argument
E Evaluative or judgmental words

A is the ONLY example is NOT given in the passage. Did you see some sort of essay above ?? NO........

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

27) Which of the following best states the author's main point about logical argument?

A It is a sterile, abstract discipline, of little use in real life.
B It is an essential element of persuasive discourse, but only one such element.
C It is an important means of persuading people to act against their desires.
D It is the lowest order of discourse because it is the least imaginative.
E It is essential to persuasive discourse because it deals with universal truths.

This is one of the most important question on the GRE: the main idea. The big picture of what you read FOR something as I stated above.

Well: what we said ?? logic and heart; brain and emotions.....

Logic is just ONE thing............

B in one second

The bottom line of such a long explanation is pretty simple and ONE only:

1) read the passage FOR something NOT just facts facts in a sterile sequence
2) From top to the bottom.
3) read the questions and pick the correct one along the way. NO back and forth if not in rare cases
4) the correct answer choice should be before your eyes IMMEDIATELY.

carcass · Answer

Shorter GRE-Reading Strategy for Medium Passages

Peculiarities of the long passages are:

1) Regular structure.

- Intro Paragraph -- Summary IMPORTANT
- Body Paragraphs:
- - Topic sentence IMPORTANT
- - Details that support the topic sentence

How much of the structure above or the advice for the long passage strategy applies to the short passage?

The answer is quite simple: facts about STRUCTURE of the passage are no longer true

1) Many times there is some sort of topic sentence at the beginning BUT not all the time!
2) Many times there will be transition words -- see the link above for those words -- BUT not always!

The lack of a CLEAR structure means that YOU CAN NO LONGER RELY ON THE IMPORTANCE OF CERTAIN PLACES OR ANCHOR POINTS IN THE PASSAGE

Also, the last sentence of a passage may involve a change in the direction of the passage when the author reports or supports a view contrary to the topic sentence.

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT CAVEAT TO HAVE IN MIND WHEN YOU ARE DEALING WITH A MEDIUM/SHORT PASSAGE ON THE GRE

ALL the advice about how to answer SPECIFIC QUESTION TYPES is the same for the short passage as for the long passage

How to attack a Short Passage

The absence of a coherent structure means that you cannot read the passage selectively. You cannot skip parts of the passage anymore. No part of the passage is more important than the others, and so you cannot ignore any part of the passage. You have to go through the whole passage.

But don’t get swallowed by the facts. How do we achieve this?

The best strategy to attack a short passage is to look at it as a Critical Reasoning Passage. Clearly, the author of the passage has not thrown a collection of facts at us for our reading pleasure. There is a purpose for all those details and facts to existing. The purpose is to support the main point of the passage. Therefore, you need to read the passage, looking for the point the author is trying to make. When you read through all the details and facts, realize that they are there to make a point. Your task is to find that point. You need to find the argument that these facts and details support or refute. As you read the passage, ask the questions “what are these facts doing here?”, “What is the argument they are supporting or refuting?”

One important strategy to find the argument in the passage is to focus on road-sign words which signal a change in the direction of the ideas in the passage. Road-sign words such as “however”, “but”, “yet”, “also” indicate a transition in the ideas. You need to read every word and sentence in the passage. The short passage has a lot fewer words but the trade-off is you have to read each one of them. You cannot deem any sentence as less important than others.

Time Management

It is important to determine the amount of time to allocate for reading a Short Passage and answering the questions that follow. The rule is, ideally, to allocate 1.5 minutes for every question in the GRE Verbal Section. Therefore, you have 3 minutes to read and understand a Short Passage that has two questions based off it, and answer the questions that follow. You should spend 1.5 minutes reading through the passage, and understanding it - this includes taking notes - and after you’re done with it, you should move on to the questions. You now have 1.5 minutes for the two questions that follow. You should spend around 30 seconds to answer a general question, because your notes would already give you the answer if you have taken it properly. You can take up to 60 seconds for answering a fetch-detail question because it requires you to go back to the passage and re-read parts of it. If you get two fetch-detail questions, then you will be forced to answer both of it in 45 seconds each. So, ideally, you should prepare for these scenarios and demonstrate your ability to do this to yourself.

However, in the actual GRE Test, you might end up finishing the Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence type questions much faster and you might then give yourself more time for the Reading Comprehension questions.

For a deep understanding of the Time Management Strategy for the Verbal Reasoning part of the test -- and not only -- see our guide  GRE Time Management - The Definitive Guide

Taking Notes

To enhance your comprehension of the short passage and answer the questions that follow in a short period of time, you need to deploy some tools. One of them is note-taking, with the express intent of understanding the passage. Our aim is not to take notes so that we can refer to them and answer the questions, though we may do that as well. On the contrary, the purpose of note-taking is to force ourselves to engage with the passage with a greater degree of attention.

The act of writing down key ideas of the passage will force you to read actively, instead of passively. Active reading involves understanding not only what we are reading, but also anticipating the next set of ideas you are likely to encounter. In other words, active reading enables anticipatory reading. When you read actively, you are linking together ideas, both the previous ones as well the ones you anticipate with the present idea you are engaging with. In this way you build up a picture of the passage in your mind, enabling holistic comprehension.

When you take notes, keep it to a minimum. You don’t want to end up reproducing the whole paragraph in short form. Just note down the key ideas and the relationship between them. This should also give you the structure of the passage, which can be useful while answering General Questions. Often times, an old idea is first propounded, followed by a new idea and the author’s position towards both. Or a problem is mentioned and a solution is provided. Or an old idea/situation undergoes a change, giving rise to a new idea/situation. Your notes should reflect these transitions.

The belief that art originates in intuitive rather than rational faculties was worked out historically and philosophically in the somewhat wearisome volumes of Benedetto Croce, who is usually considered the originator of a new aesthetic. Croce was, in fact, expressing a very old idea. Long before the Romantics stressed intuition and self-expression, the frenzy of inspiration was regarded as fundamental to art, but philosophers had always assumed it must be controlled by law and by the intellectual power of putting things into harmonious order. This general philosophic concept of art was supported by technical necessities. It was necessary to master certain laws and to use intellect in order to build Gothic cathedrals, or set up the stained glass windows of Chartres. When this bracing element of craftsmanship ceased to dominate artists’ outlook, new technical elements had to be adopted to maintain the intellectual element in art. Such were  linear perspective and anatomy .  
The passage suggests that which of the following would most likely have occurred if linear perspective and anatomy had not come to influence artistic endeavor?

(A)The craftsmanship that shaped Gothic architecture would have continued to dominate artists’ outlooks.
(B)Some other technical elements would have been adopted to discipline artistic inspiration.
(C)Intellectual control over artistic inspiration would not have influenced painting as it did architecture.
(D)The role of intuitive inspiration would not have remained fundamental to theories of artistic creation.
(E)The assumptions of aesthetic philosophers before Croce would have been invalidated.

The passage supplies information for answering which of the following questions?

(A)Does Romantic art exhibit the triumph of intuition over intellect?
(B)Did an emphasis on linear perspective and anatomy dominate Romantic art?
(C)Are the intellectual and intuitive faculties harmoniously balanced in post-Romantic art?
(D)Are the effects of the rational control of artistic inspiration evident in the great works of pre-Romantic eras?
(E)Was the artistic craftsmanship displayed in Gothic cathedrals also an element in paintings of this period?

The passage implies that which of the following was a traditional assumption of aesthetic philosophers?

(A)Intellectual elements in art exert a necessary control over artistic inspiration.
(B)Architecture has never again reached the artistic greatness of the Gothic cathedrals.
(C)Aesthetic philosophy is determined by the technical necessities of art.
(D)Artistic craftsmanship is more important in architectural art than in pictorial art.
(E)Paintings lacked the intellectual element before the invention of linear perspective and anatomy.

The author mentions “ linear perspective and anatomy ” in the last sentence in order to do which of the following?

(A)Expand his argument to include painting as well as architecture
(B)Indicate his disagreement with Croce’s theory of the origins of art
(C)Support his point that rational order of some kind has often seemed to discipline artistic inspiration
(D)Explain the rational elements in Gothic painting that corresponded to craftsmanship in Gothic architecture
(E)Show the increasing sophistication of artists after the Gothic period

EXPLANATION of the PASSAGE

The book by Benedetto Croce is the capstone to understanding that art stems, both from a historical and philosophical standpoint, from a spark of our intellect. I.E. it is a spontaneous process not rational.
 
Croce simply expressed an idea, that art is originated thanks to our intuition and it is not , after all, a rational process, already highlighted by Romantics. The philosopher thought it was a rational process, a systematic and ordered way of thinking about art.

Why did philosophers think that about art ? well is was also a matter of convenience, for example, who constructed the Gothic cathedrals such as Notre-Dame in France, it certainly was a piece of art. However, an artist must master certain specific skills and this certain was related to the intellect.

EXPLANATION of the QUESTIONS

Question - 1 - The passage suggests that which of the following would most likely have occurred if linear perspective and anatomy had not come to influence artistic endeavor?

The passage talks about how philosophers had always assumed that inspirational frenzy  must be controlled by law and by the intellectual power of putting things into harmonious order.  That rational faculty has a role to play to discipline the artistic inspirational frenzy. And technical necessities supported this philosophic concept of art. It mentions the role of intellect and knowledge of certain laws in building Gothic Cathedrals or creating stained glass. The passage then states that when this craftsmanship ceased to dominate artist's outlook, new technical elements had to be adopted to maintain the  intellectual element in art. One of them was linear perspective and anatomy.

Since the passage maintains the necessity of intellectual control of intuitional inspiration, if the linear perspective and anatomy had not come to influence artistic endeavor, some other technical or intellectual elements would have taken control and influenced the artists.

Thus Choice B is the correct choice.

Question - 2 - The passage supplies information for answering which of the following questions?

(A)Does Romantic art exhibit the triumph of intuition over intellect?   -  While the passage states how Romantics stressed intuition and self-expression, and believed that art originates in intuition and not in rational faculties, it does not talk about Romantic art being an example of triumph of intuition over intellect. That is extreme. 
 
(B)Did an emphasis on linear perspective and anatomy dominate Romantic art? -  No information provided.The passage only states that linear perspective and anatomy took over once the bracing element of craftsmanship ceased to dominate artist's outlook.

(C)Are the intellectual and intuitive faculties harmoniously balanced in post-Romantic art? -  No information provided.

(D)Are the effects of the rational control of artistic inspiration evident in the great works of pre-Romantic eras? -  Yes. We see that in the Gothic Cathedrals and stained glass of Chartres which required mastery (and knowledge) of certain lsaws and use of intellect.

(E)Was the artistic craftsmanship displayed in Gothic cathedrals also an element in paintings of this period? -  No information provided.

Thus Choice D is the correct choice.

Question - 3 -  The passage implies that which of the following was a traditional assumption of aesthetic philosophers?

The passage states that the philosophers assumed that while inspirational frenzy was fundamental to art, the philosophers had always assumed it must be controlled by law and by the intellectual power of putting things into harmonious order. Therefore,

Choice A is the correct choice.

Question - 4 - The author mentions “linear perspective and anatomy” in the last sentence in order to do which of the following?

The author mentions linear perspective and anatomy taking over to maintain the intellectual element in art once the bracing elemment of craftsmanship ceased to dominate artists outlook.

Choice C is the correct answer.

carcass · Answer

Shorter GRE - Reading Passage Main Idea Questions Strategy

Understanding the central theme of a passage is not just important, it is crucial for success. It serves as a guide that helps you navigate the passage, separating the important points from the supporting details. By knowing the main idea, you lay the foundation for accurately answering questions about the passage. Remember, the key to success lies in understanding the central theme.

According to ETS we could have 4 categories of questions during the RC portion of the test, I:E when, during the exam, we have to solve a passage:

Basic understanding of the information provided by the passage: for example, a vocabulary word in context; 
 Inference: we have to find information that are NOT clearly stated in the passage but ARE in the passage. More often than not this information is under the form of rephrasing sentences; 
 Evaluate: questions related to the logic of the passage. For example, why this portion of the passage - highlighted - is mentioned? why or what is the specific purpose? In order to ? 
  Organization of the passage or what is the role of the X paragraph in the economy of the passage as a whole........

To make things even simpler: we do have, essentially, two main categories of questions to reply on the GRE

Main Idea or questions related to the passage as a whole; 
  Inference questions. Questions related to the logic of words, details, and sentences

To find the main idea, what is the meaning as a whole of an essay, or what is the overall message of the author through the passage itself, you must use the words of the same passage. However, we do have a caveat: from the definition I gave, it looks like the main idea recalls an inference question but this is not the case because we must stay close to the passage's words. In the case of the main idea, we do have an exception.

The main idea must be addressed using not a particular strategy but your feelings. This specific question pertains to the left side of the thinking spectrum. The questions on the left extreme of the spectrum (main idea and so on) are IMPOSSIBLE to solve with formal logic and/or rules. Those on the right extreme of the spectrum will be misled by using real-world thinking on these question types.

Please, it is strongly suggested to read my  Shorter GRE-Reading Comprehension General Strategy  -   The Thinking Spectrum

Questions about the main idea must summarize the whole passage. The correct answer will be a reformulated or paraphrased version of the main point. It also must be broad enough to encompass the passage as a whole.

NOT to narrow to catch the meaning of a single paragraph or sentence. 
 NOT too broad or vague.

The main idea must be on point and must be THE point.

Always according to ETS, the main idea questions are the vast minority. This is also true. However, pinpointing the main idea is essential to understand not only this type of question but also the OTHER questions.
Let's take a look at the main idea tree also:

https://gre.myprepclub.com/forum/download/file.php?mode=view&id=16507

As you can see, the main idea is

The backbone, the bedrock of all your strategies to nail every kind of passage. 
 If you know the main idea, and what the passage is conveying, you can create a table of contents of the same (TOC): using notes or in your mind. 
 If you already know the main idea, even though this type of question is part of the questions during the reading of the passage, you do know where to find the details that later on you later need to pinpoint to address the inference questions or the others. 
 The main idea is your compass. Thanks to it, you can find the details or what you are looking for in the passage quickly and efficiently.

Notice how on the GRE, the usage of the main idea or purpose of the passage is used interchangeably to express the central idea of the passage. Even though there is a slight difference between purpose and main idea BUT you do not need such a nuanced difference.

EXPLANATION of the PASSAGE

Let's dive into a passage to explain the main idea.
Notice how, in this passage, we do have TWO questions related to the main idea of the passage. Particularly, the first one is tricky

The deep sea typically has a sparse fauna dominated by tiny worms and crustaceans, with an even sparser distribution of larger animals. However, near hydrothermal vents, areas of the ocean where warm water emerges from subterranean sources, live remarkable densities of huge clams, blind crabs, and fish.

Most deep-sea faunas rely for food on particulate matter ultimately derived from photosynthesis, falling from above. The food supplies necessary to sustain the large vent communities, however, must be many times the ordinary fallout. The first reports describing vent faunas proposed two possible sources of nutrition: bacterial chemosynthesis, production of food by bacteria using energy derived from chemical changes, and advection, the drifting of food materials from surrounding regions. Later, evidence in support of the idea of intense local chemosynthesis was accumulated: hydrogen sulfide was found in vent water; many vent-site bacteria were found to be capable of chemosynthesis; and extremely large concentrations of bacteria were found in samples of vent water thought to be pure. This final observation seemed decisive. If such astonishing concentrations of bacteria were typical of vent outflow, then food within the vent would dwarf any contribution from advection. Hence, the widely quoted conclusion was reached that bacterial chemosynthesis provides the foundation ,for hydrothermal-vent food chains - an exciting prospect because no other communities on Earth are independent of photosynthesis.

There are, however, certain difficulties with this interpretation. For example, some of the large sedentary organisms associated with vents are also found at ordinary deep-sea temperatures many meters from the nearest hydrothermal sources. This suggests that bacterial chemosynthesis is not a sufficient source of nutrition for these creatures. Another difficulty is that similarly dense populations of large deep-sea animals have been found in the proximity of "smokers" -vents where water emerges at temperatures up to 350° C. No bacteria can survive such heat, and no bacteria were found there Unless smokers are consistently located near more hospitable warm-water vents, chemosynthesis can account for only a fraction of the vent faunas. It is conceivable, however, that these large, sedentary organisms do in fact feed on bacteria that grow in warm-water vents, rise in the vent water, and then rain in peripheral areas to nourish animals living some distance from the warm-water vents.

Nonetheless, advection is a more likely alternative food source. Research has demonstrated that advective flow, which originates near the surface of the ocean where suspended particulate matter accumulates, transports some of that matter and water to the vents. Estimates suggest that for every cubic meter of vent discharge, 350 milligrams of particulate organic material would be advected into the vent area. Thus, for an average-sized vent, advection could provide more than 30 kilograms of potential food per day. In addition, it is likely that small live animals in the advected water might be killed or stunned by thermal and/or chemical shock thereby contributing to the food supply of vents.   The passage provides information for answering which of the following questions?

(A) What causes warm-water vents to form? 
(B) Do vent faunas consume more than do deep-sea faunas of similar size? 
(C) Do bacteria live in the vent water of smokers? 
(D) What role does hydrogen sulfide play in chemosynthesis? 
(E) What accounts for the locations of deep-sea smokers?

The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) describe a previously unknown natural phenomenon 
(B) reconstruct the evolution of a natural phenomenon 
(C) establish unequivocally the accuracy of a hypothesis 
(D) survey explanations for a natural phenomenon and determine which is best supported by evidence 
(E) entertain criticism of the author's research and provide an effective response

#1 paragraph

The deep sea typically has a sparse fauna dominated by tiny worms and crustaceans, with an even sparser distribution of larger animals.

The fauna = animals that are located in the deep of the oceans, or seas are sparse. That means we do not have a high concentration of animals per square inch or miles. Large animals are even more sparse or rare, which means that the attention is even lower.

However, near hydrothermal vents, areas of the ocean where warm water emerges from subterranean sources, live remarkable densities of huge clams, blind crabs, and fish.

However= but= here we do have a shift . Near certain specific zone such as the vents where the water is warmer than other places, we do NOT have a sparse fauna. Instead, we do have a high concentration of animals: fish, clams, and so on. whatever, just details. But the key concept is the following. we DO NOT have sparse fauna, as in general, we do have in the deep sea.

#2 paragraph

Most deep-sea faunas rely for food on particulate matter ultimately derived from photosynthesis, falling from above.

This fauna in the deep sea takes the food from microscope elements falling from above. From above means from the ocean's surface, these elements fell to the deep sea. From up to down. This is the only thing you should keep in mind and this is also important.

The food supplies necessary to sustain the large vent communities, however, must be many times the ordinary fallout.

Here we do have a pivotal concept: because the community in the vents area is huge, then the elements that come from above are not sufficient. Therefore, these animals must have another source for their food

The first reports describing vent faunas proposed two possible sources of nutrition: bacterial chemosynthesis, production of food by bacteria using energy derived from chemical changes, and advection, the drifting of food materials from surrounding regions.

We do have two main reasons that could explain how the fauna in the vents area take the food
1) production of food by bacteria using energy
2) advection, the drifting of food materials from surrounding regions. The food comes from the surrounding areas the vents

Later, evidence in support of the idea of intense local chemosynthesis was accumulated: hydrogen sulfide was found in vent water; many vent-site bacteria were found to be capable of chemosynthesis; and extremely large concentrations of bacteria were found in samples of vent water thought to be pure.

Just keep in mind that here we do have an explanation of the reason 1) above. Just keep in mind this. No need to delve into the details. If you will need of it , you will know where the chemosynthesis process is located

This final observation seemed decisive. If such astonishing concentrations of bacteria were typical of vent outflow, then food within the vent would dwarf any contribution from advection.

this sentence tells us essentially one thing: if the hypothesis is true, then chemosynthesis is the main reason how the fauna take food.  chemosynthesis > advection

Hence, the widely quoted conclusion was reached that bacterial chemosynthesis provides the foundation for hydrothermal - vent food chains - an exciting prospect because no other communities on Earth are independent of photosynthesis.

Hyphotesis 1) seems the most reasonable

There are, however, certain difficulties with this interpretation. For example, some of the large sedentary organisms associated with vents are also found at ordinary deep-sea temperatures many meters from the nearest hydrothermal sources. This suggests that bacterial chemosynthesis is not a sufficient source of nutrition for these creatures.

Here, we do have a significant shift: because large animals are also found in other locations suggests that the phenomenon described at point 1) is NOT the only possible source of food.

Another difficulty is that similarly dense populations of large deep-sea animals have been found in the proximity of "smokers" - vents where water emerges at temperatures up to 350° C. No bacteria can survive such heat, and no bacteria were found there Unless smokers are consistently located near more hospitable warm-water vents, chemosynthesis can account for only a fraction of the vent faunas.

Here we do have an important fact: large animals that should rely on for food in chemosynthesis, which in turn out uses bacteria, are located in the proximity of areas where the temperature is too high and the bacteria cannot survive. Therefore, these same bacteria cannot produce the food. UNLESS the same vants are located in more mild waters.

It is conceivable, however, that these large, sedentary organisms do in fact feed on bacteria that grow in warm-water vents, rise in the vent water, and then rain in peripheral areas to nourish animals living some distance from the warm-water vents.

A possible solution to this paradox is that these large animals feed on bacteria that reproduce in mild vents and then these bacteria reach those areas to feed the animal a bit far aways those vents areas where the bacteria create the food. Mhhhh a complicated story, though.

#3 paragraph

Nonetheless, advection is a more likely alternative food source. Research has demonstrated that advective flow, which originates near the surface of the ocean where suspended particulate matter accumulates, transports some of that matter and water to the vents.

Notice the word nonetheless in the explanation for the fact # 1). That means we do not have a definitive conclusion or understanding of this phenomenon.
Advection is a possible alternative to food production

Estimates suggest that for every cubic meter of vent discharge, 350 milligrams of particulate organic material would be advected into the vent area. Thus, for an average-sized vent, advection could provide more than 30 kilograms of potential food per day. In addition, it is likely that small live animals in the advected water might be killed or stunned by thermal and/or chemical shock thereby contributing to the food supply of vents.

Here is just how advection works. Just an explanation of the possible process.

EXPLANATION of the QUESTIONS

#1 QUESTION

When you need to find the overall idea that the passage conveys you must read in brief the key elements of the passage itself. Actually, there is not a bullet-proof strategy because the answer arose from the sense and feeling you do have from it. Of course, there is a logic in answering it. However, these kinds of questions are NOT based on pure logic but rather common sense

Answer this question in 30 seconds is possible

Look at these key parts

two crucial elements here: however which is a shift in the argument and put you in the path that the passage talks about something else of that which is apparent and areas, which implies locations

The passage provides information for answering which of the following questions?

(A) What causes warm-water vents to form?

In the above quotation NO sign of warm water is the key element but rather the vent

(B) Do vent faunas consume more than do deep-sea faunas of similar size?

the consumption is NOT the key element

(C) Do bacteria live in the vent water of smokers?

The key element is the vent which is basically a location, an area for food and blah blah blah.....  CORRECT

(D) What role does hydrogen sulfide play in chemosynthesis?

Hydrogen is NOT a key element of what we are talking about. Notice how this is tricky because the passage talks about hydrothermal vents NOT hydrogen

(E) What accounts for the locations of deep-sea smokers?

The passage talks about the proximity of deep-sea animals to smokers areas which are still VENT areas.

From all above as you can see if you are able to use this strategy even the most complex passages can be addressed in 30 seconds. However, this implies that your level of standard English is pretty decent

#2 QUESTION

The primary purpose of the passage is to

Explanation

A study of the passage reveals that it is trying to explain the food source for the dense populations for small and large animals near hydrothermal vents. Initially, the conclusion was reached that bacterial chemosynthesis provides the foundation for hydrothermal - vent food chains - on the basis of some evidence. Later evidence pointed towards advection as a more likely food source.

(A) describe a previously unknown natural phenomenon . Wrong. 
(B) reconstruct the evolution of a natural phenomenon . Wrong. 
(C) establish unequivocally the accuracy of a hypothesis . Wrong. 
(D) survey explanations for a natural phenomenon and determine which is best supported by evidence . Correct. 
(E) entertain criticism of the author's research and provide an effective response . Wrong.

carcass · Answer

Shorter GRE - Reading Passage Inference Questions Strategy

Inference questions are the most common type of questions in the verbal section of the GRE. They account for ≈70% of all the RC questions. They can be quite tricky not only because it is challenging to infer something from the information contained in the passage but also because this must be done under time pressure. Often, to answer these questions, the details you need are located in more than one portion of the passage.
As we already mentioned, inference questions might take different forms, according to ETS, even though they are still just inference. We do have:

Words in context. Why are specific words highlighted and, consequently, what is their role in the economy of the passage? I.E why that word is there and what is its role ? 
  Organization of the passage: how is the passage organized? 
  Inference questions that will ask you to draw inferences from the passage, and what the author intends. Considering that all we said is NOT clearly or explicitly stated in the passage. More often than not, the answer is a paraphrase of what is written in the passage itself

Inference questions must be addressed using our formal logic

In the real world, inference means some sort of "best guess", based on the information at hand. On the other hand, during the GRE RC passages, we must have a rigorous approach: we must address the inference questions trying to prove things. What is also important is:

we do not need necessarily know these things; 
 we can actually prove the statements contained in the passage; 
 picking the answer, this MUST be true. This is a very strict requirement. No additional assumptions or guesses. You will end up with the answer, the correct one, that is VERY close to what is already stated or written in the passage. In some cases, the inference answer is a paraphrase or a restatement of what is already in the passage

GOOD strategy during the test for the inference questions!

Read the passage FIRST 
  Look for the main idea (the overall passage idea) or sub-main ideas (the main topic of the subparagraphs). Create your TOC down the road. 
 Note the placement of details but do not worry about the details themselves. Take a glance at them. You will know where to look

BAD strategy during the test for the inference questions!

Reading the questions FIRST    and then apply the pendulum movement: back and forth between the passage and the questions
  For main idea questions, you will reread the whole thing; 
 For the details questions, you will have NO idea where to look or search

TWO kinds of CORRECT inferences

1) Statements that can be RIGOROUSLY PROVED from the information at stake
2) Statements that can not be proved 100% but are 99.99999% true. It would be ridiculous for them to be false (statements TRUE beyond and in ALL reasonable situations)

TWO kinds of WRONG inferences

1) Statements that are false or that contradict the information in the passage.
2) Statements that we are guessing or we are making EXTRA assumptions.

---------------------------------------------

Now, let's dive into two difficult passage, explaining the inference questions. Our goal is always the same: read the entire passage FIRST, making the main idea of the passage in our mind or notepad, constructing a MOC (map of contents) so we shall be able to pinpoint where the details are located to reply to the inference question, going back and forth between the passage and the questions, without delve too much into the details themselves.

Result: it should be to reply the questions right away once we approach them after reading the passage. It is possible. And it is also possible to apply this strategy, saving time, and nailing all the questions correctly.

There is a caveat though  : not all the time we shall be able to reply to a question following the exact order from top down. I.E From A to E. Instead, you should work outside in: eliminating those answer choices that are wrong. ALWAYS at least two out of five are obviously incorrect. Work from there to reach the correct one, it is much easier to pick the correct one among three, for example, that among five!

In the shorter version of the GRE, we have inference questions. However, we might say that we do have the following:

Basic inference
  - according to the passage
 - word in the context of the passage  , what the word means
 - et similiar 
 
  Pure inference
  - the passage implies 
 - the author of the passage would be most likely to agree 
 - the passage implies
 - except 
 
  Portion role
  - what is the function of the highlighted sentence
 - the author mentions that specific portion for what reason
 - select in the passage the sentence  
  Organization as a whole or role of the paragraph in the economy of the passage

In the following passages, we explain all these different kinds of inference questions in detail.

EXPLANATION of the PASSAGE

The deep sea typically has a sparse fauna dominated by tiny worms and crustaceans, with an even sparser distribution of larger animals. However, near hydrothermal vents, areas of the ocean where warm water emerges from subterranean sources, live remarkable densities of huge clams, blind crabs, and fish.

Most deep-sea faunas rely for food on particulate matter ultimately derived from photosynthesis, falling from above. The food supplies necessary to sustain the large vent communities, however, must be many times the ordinary fallout. The first reports describing vent faunas proposed two possible sources of nutrition: bacterial chemosynthesis, production of food by bacteria using energy derived from chemical changes, and advection, the drifting of food materials from surrounding regions. Later, evidence in support of the idea of intense local chemosynthesis was accumulated: hydrogen sulfide was found in vent water; many vent-site bacteria were found to be capable of chemosynthesis; and extremely large concentrations of bacteria were found in samples of vent water thought to be pure. This final observation seemed decisive. If such astonishing concentrations of bacteria were typical of vent outflow, then food within the vent would dwarf any contribution from advection. Hence, the widely quoted conclusion was reached that bacterial chemosynthesis provides the foundation ,for hydrothermal-vent food chains - an exciting prospect because no other communities on Earth are independent of photosynthesis.

There are, however, certain difficulties with this interpretation. For example, some of the large sedentary organisms associated with vents are also found at ordinary deep-sea temperatures many meters from the nearest hydrothermal sources. This suggests that bacterial chemosynthesis is not a sufficient source of nutrition for these creatures. Another difficulty is that similarly dense populations of large deep-sea animals have been found in the proximity of "smokers" -vents where water emerges at temperatures up to 350° C. No bacteria can survive such heat, and no bacteria were found there Unless smokers are consistently located near more hospitable warm-water vents, chemosynthesis can account for only a fraction of the vent faunas. It is conceivable, however, that these large, sedentary organisms do in fact feed on bacteria that grow in warm-water vents, rise in the vent water, and then rain in peripheral areas to nourish animals living some distance from the warm-water vents.

Nonetheless, advection is a more likely alternative food source. Research has demonstrated that advective flow, which originates near the surface of the ocean where suspended particulate matter accumulates, transports some of that matter and water to the vents. Estimates suggest that for every cubic meter of vent discharge, 350 milligrams of particulate organic material would be advected into the vent area. Thus, for an average-sized vent, advection could provide more than 30 kilograms of potential food per day. In addition, it is likely that small live animals in the advected water might be killed or stunned by thermal and/or chemical shock thereby contributing to the food supply of vents.  
 The information in the passage suggests that the majority of deep-sea faunas that live in nonvent habitats have which of the following characteristics?

(A) They do not normally feed on particles of food in the water. 
(B) They are smaller than many vent faunas. 
(C) They are predators. 
(D) They derive nutrition from a chemosynthetic food source. 
(E) They congregate around a single main food source.

Which of the following does the author cite as a weakness in the argument that bacterial chemosynthesis provides the foundation for the food chains at deep-sea vents?

(A) Vents are colonized by some of the same animals found in other areas of the ocean floor. 
(B) Vent water does not contain sufficient quantities of hydrogen sulfide. 
(C) Bacteria cannot produce large quantities of food quickly enough. 
(D) Large concentrations of minerals are found in vent water. 
(E) Some bacteria found in the vents are incapable of chemosynthesis.

Which of the following is information supplied in the passage that would support the statement that the food supplies necessary to sustain vent communities must be many times that of ordinary fallout?

I. Large vent faunas move from vent to vent in search of food. 
II. Vent faunas are not able to consume food produced by photosynthesis. 
III. Vents are more densely populated than are other deep-sea areas.

(A) I only 
(B) III only 
(C) I and II only 
(D) II and III only 
(E) I, II, and III

The author refers to " smokers " most probably in order to

(A) show how thermal shock can provide food for some vent faunas by stunning small animals 
(B) prove that the habitat of most deep-sea animals is limited to warm-water vents 
(C) explain how bacteria carry out chemosynthesis 
(D) demonstrate how advection compensates for the lack of food sources on the seafloor 
(E) present evidence that bacterial chemosynthesis may be an inadequate source of food for some vent faunas

Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about the particulate matter that is carried down from the surface of the ocean?

(A) It is the basis of bacterial chemosynthesis in the vents. 
(B) It may provide an important source of nutrition for vent faunas. 
(C) It may cause the internal temperature of the vents to change significantly. 
(D) It is transported as large aggregates of particles. 
(E) It contains hydrogen sulfide