Central Idea/ Inference HW

Pierre was ungainly. Stout, about the average height, broad, with huge red hands; he did not know, as the saying is, how to enter a drawing room and still less how to leave one; that is, how to say something particularly agreeable before going away. Besides this he was absent-minded. When he rose to go, he took up instead of his own, the general's three-cornered hat, and held it, pulling at the plume, till the general asked him to restore it.

What is the main idea of the text?

• Pierre is deliberately unpleasant to others

• Pierre has an excessively formal manner.

• Pierre is physically and socially awkward

• Pierre has a good sense of humor

In 1934 physicist Eugene Wigner posited the existence of a crystal consisting entirely of electrons in a honeycomb-like structure. The so-called Wigner crystal remained largely conjecture, however, until Feng Wang and colleagues announced in 2021 that they had captured an image of one. The researchers trapped electrons between two semiconductors and then cooled the apparatus, causing the electrons to settle into a crystalline structure. By inserting an ultrathin sheet of graphene above the crystal, the researchers obtained an impression—the first visual confirmation of the Wigner crystal. Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

• Researchers have obtained the most definitive evidence to date of the existence of the Wigner crystal.

• Researchers have identified an innovative new method for working with unusual crystalline structures.

• Graphene is the most important of the components required to capture an image of a Wigner crystal.

• It’s difficult to acquire an image of a Wigner crystal because of the crystal’s honeycomb structure.

Scholars have noted that F. Scott Fitzgerald’s writings were likely influenced in part by his marriage to Zelda Fitzgerald, but many don’t recognize Zelda as a writer in her own right. Indeed, Zelda authored several works herself, such as the novel Save Me the Waltz and numerous short stories. Thus, those who primarily view Zelda as an inspiration for F. Scott’s writings ______ Which choice most logically completes the text?

• overlook the many other factors that motivated F. Scott to write.

• risk misrepresenting the full range of Zelda’s contributions to literature.

• may draw inaccurate conclusions about how F. Scott and Zelda viewed each other’s works.

• tend to read the works of F. Scott and Zelda in an overly autobiographical light.

Among social animals that care for their young, such as chickens, macaque monkeys, and humans, newborns appear to show an innate attraction to faces and face-like stimuli. Elisabetta Versace and her colleagues used an image of three black dots arranged in the shape of eyes and a nose or mouth to test whether this trait also occurs in Testudo tortoises, which live alone and do not engage in parental care. They found that tortoise hatchlings showed a significant preference for the image, suggesting that ______ Which choice most logically completes the text?

• face-like stimuli are likely perceived as harmless by newborns of social species that practice parental care but as threatening by newborns of solitary species without parental care.

• researchers should not assume that an innate attraction to face-like stimuli is necessarily an adaptation related to social interaction or parental care

• researchers can assume that the attraction to face-like stimuli that is seen in social species that practice parental care is learned rather than innate.

• newly hatched Testudo tortoises show a stronger preference for face-like stimuli than adult Testudo tortoises do.

Compiled in the late 1500s largely through the efforts of Indigenous scribes, Cantares Mexicanos is the most important collection of poetry in Classical Nahuatl, the principal language of the Aztec Empire. The poems portray Aztec society before the occupation of the empire by the army of Spain, and marginal notes in Cantares Mexicanos indicate that much of the collection’s content predates the initial invasion. Nonetheless, some of the poems contain inarguable references to beliefs and customs common in Spain during this era. Thus, some scholars have concluded that ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

• while its content largely predates the invasion, Cantares Mexicanos also contains additions made after the invasion

• although those who compiled Cantares Mexicanos were fluent in Nahuatl, they had limited knowledge of the Spanish language.

• before the invasion by Spain, the poets of the Aztec Empire borrowed from the literary traditions of other societies.

• the references to beliefs and customs in Spain should be attributed to a coincidental resemblance between the societies of Spain and the Aztec Empire.

Dorian passed listlessly in front of his picture and turned towards it. When he saw it he drew back, and his cheeks flushed for a moment with pleasure. A look of joy came into his eyes, as if he had recognized himself for the first time. He stood there motionless and in wonder, dimly conscious that Hallward was speaking to him, but not catching the meaning of his words. The sense of his own beauty came on him like a revelation. He had never felt it before.

According to the text, what is true about Dorian?

• He wants to know Hallward’s opinion of the portrait.

• He is delighted by what he sees in the portrait.

• He prefers portraits to other types of paintings.

• He is uncertain of Hallward’s talent as an artist.

In West Africa, jalis have traditionally been keepers of information about family histories and records of important events. They have often served as teachers and advisers, too. New technologies may have changed some aspects of the role today, but jalis continue to be valued for knowing and protecting their peoples’ stories.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

• Even though there have been some changes in their role, jalis continue to preserve their communities’ histories.

• Although jalis have many roles, many of them like teaching best.

• Jalis have been entertaining the people within their communities for centuries.

• Technology can now do some of the things jalis used to be responsible for.

• overemphasizing the context of the joke at the expense of its intent

• producing a translation that is literally correct but unfunny

• creating a new joke that is itself culturally specific

• explaining the joke at such length that it is no longer amusing

Thou, with stroke of mighty pen, Hast told of joy and mirth, And read the hearts and souls of men As cradled from their birth. The language of the flowers, Thou hast read them all, And e’en the little brook Responded to thy call.

• To praise a certain writer for being especially perceptive regarding people and nature

• To establish that a certain writer has read extensively about a variety of topics

• To call attention to a certain writer’s careful and elaborately detailed writing process

• To recount fond memories of an afternoon spent in nature with a certain writer

In 2007, computer scientist Luis von Ahn was working on converting printed books into a digital format. He found that some words were distorted enough that digital scanners couldn’t recognize them, but most humans could easily read them. Based on that finding, von Ahn invented a simple security test to keep automated “bots” out of websites. The first version of the reCAPTCHA test asked users to type one known word and one of the many words scanners couldn’t recognize. Correct answers proved the users were humans and added data to the book-digitizing project.

• To discuss von Ahn’s invention of reCAPTCHA

• To explain how digital scanners work

• To call attention to von Ahn’s book-digitizing project

• To indicate how popular reCAPTCHA is