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Updated on: 20 Mar 2026, 03:29
Originally posted by shridhar786 on 12 Sep 2019, 21:46.
Last edited by Bunuel on 20 Mar 2026, 03:29, edited 4 times in total.
Last edited by Bunuel on 20 Mar 2026, 03:29, edited 4 times in total.
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Question 1
C
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
85%
(hard)
Question Stats:
28% (02:32) correct
72%
(02:38) wrong
based on 366
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 2
A
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
95%
(hard)
Question Stats:
27% (01:25) correct 73%
(01:15) wrong
based on 358
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 3
B
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
35%
(medium)
Question Stats:
56% (00:39) correct 44%
(00:55) wrong
based on 335
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
The 1956 short film The Red Balloon ends with the young protagonist sailing over Paris, held aloft by dozens of colorful balloons. In more than half a century since, this fantasy scenario became reality time and again, as cluster ballooning caught on around the world. Unlike hot-air and gas balloonists, who ride in a gondola or wicker basket and control their altitude by means of vents built into a large, buoyant balloon envelope, cluster balloonists typically ride in a harness attached to a handful of relatively small helium balloons, which expand and cause the passenger to rise uncontrollably unless he or she cuts away or deflates them to lose buoyancy. Some cluster balloonists use bottled water as ballast to enhance stability, emptying it progressively to regulate the speed of descent.
Thanks in large part to its comparatively casual nature, the pastime, once used primarily for amateur scientific experiments involving atmosphere measurement or aerial photography, has endeared itself more to untrained hobbyists than to experienced aviators. Indeed, the best-known cluster balloon flight was taken in 1982 by Larry Walters, a truck driver from California who attached 42 helium weather balloons to a lawn chair and rose nearly three miles into the air – more than fifty times higher than he intended to float. His example has inspired other cluster ballooning ventures, some of which have ended in death, as in the case of the Brazilian priest Adelir Antonio de Carli, who floated nearly four miles high, suspended by 1000 balloons, in a charity fundraising feat. Not dissuaded, the trained pilot Jonathan Trappe rose to almost three miles, on a standard office chair, just two months later.
Thanks in large part to its comparatively casual nature, the pastime, once used primarily for amateur scientific experiments involving atmosphere measurement or aerial photography, has endeared itself more to untrained hobbyists than to experienced aviators. Indeed, the best-known cluster balloon flight was taken in 1982 by Larry Walters, a truck driver from California who attached 42 helium weather balloons to a lawn chair and rose nearly three miles into the air – more than fifty times higher than he intended to float. His example has inspired other cluster ballooning ventures, some of which have ended in death, as in the case of the Brazilian priest Adelir Antonio de Carli, who floated nearly four miles high, suspended by 1000 balloons, in a charity fundraising feat. Not dissuaded, the trained pilot Jonathan Trappe rose to almost three miles, on a standard office chair, just two months later.
1. Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of this passage?
(A) An increasingly popular amateur hobby
(B) The appeal and dangers of cluster ballooning
(C) A précis of an alternative pastime and its practitioners
(D) The difference between cluster ballooning and traditional ballooning
(E) The influence of The Red Balloon on a hobbyist activity
(A) An increasingly popular amateur hobby
(B) The appeal and dangers of cluster ballooning
(C) A précis of an alternative pastime and its practitioners
(D) The difference between cluster ballooning and traditional ballooning
(E) The influence of The Red Balloon on a hobbyist activity
2. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
(A) Larry Walters had no ballooning experience prior to his flight.
(B) Adelir Antonio de Carli's harness was improperly attached.
(C) Jonathan Trappe's flight was meant to prove the safety of cluster ballooning.
(D) The Red Balloon was influential in popularizing recreational ballooning.
(E) Larry Walters died as a consequence of his unanticipated altitude.
(A) Larry Walters had no ballooning experience prior to his flight.
(B) Adelir Antonio de Carli's harness was improperly attached.
(C) Jonathan Trappe's flight was meant to prove the safety of cluster ballooning.
(D) The Red Balloon was influential in popularizing recreational ballooning.
(E) Larry Walters died as a consequence of his unanticipated altitude.
3. The two main parts of this passage can best be described as:
(A) context and character.
(B) explanation and examples.
(C) promotion and caution.
(D) technique and portraiture.
(E) overview and details.
(A) context and character.
(B) explanation and examples.
(C) promotion and caution.
(D) technique and portraiture.
(E) overview and details.
Source: Prep. Advisor
14 Sep 2019, 20:18
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OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
question 1--
A is sufficiently broad, but the passage does not indicate that cluster ballooning is actively growing in popularity, only that it has become common since the 1950s. B is not totally accurate: neither the appeal nor the dangers of the pastime are discussed in any detail, and this choice ignores other important parts of the text. D is limited to the first paragraph. E is clearly false, as The Red Balloon is never mentioned after the opening sentence. C does the best job of summing up the central concerns of the passage.
question 2--
The placement of the sentence about Larry Walters indicates that he is a prime example of how "untrained hobbyists" often practiced cluster ballooning. B, C, and E presume too much, as the author says nothing about the complications of de Carli's flight or Trappe's intent, nor whether Walters died in flight (he did not). D is a bit too abstract and unjustifiable to choose.
question 3--
All of the options suggested here can be found in sections of the first and second paragraphs, but "explanation and examples" is the best choice because the first section accounts for the nature of the pastime and the second discusses in depth some cases in which it has had notable results. "Context" and "promotion" are both inaccurate, eliminating A and C; D is too specific and E too vague.
question 1--
A is sufficiently broad, but the passage does not indicate that cluster ballooning is actively growing in popularity, only that it has become common since the 1950s. B is not totally accurate: neither the appeal nor the dangers of the pastime are discussed in any detail, and this choice ignores other important parts of the text. D is limited to the first paragraph. E is clearly false, as The Red Balloon is never mentioned after the opening sentence. C does the best job of summing up the central concerns of the passage.
question 2--
The placement of the sentence about Larry Walters indicates that he is a prime example of how "untrained hobbyists" often practiced cluster ballooning. B, C, and E presume too much, as the author says nothing about the complications of de Carli's flight or Trappe's intent, nor whether Walters died in flight (he did not). D is a bit too abstract and unjustifiable to choose.
question 3--
All of the options suggested here can be found in sections of the first and second paragraphs, but "explanation and examples" is the best choice because the first section accounts for the nature of the pastime and the second discusses in depth some cases in which it has had notable results. "Context" and "promotion" are both inaccurate, eliminating A and C; D is too specific and E too vague.
