TOEFL IBT READING PRACTICE TEST 31 SOLUTION & EXPLANATION

Feeding Habits of East African Herbivores

1.    [3] This is a Vocabulary question. The word being tested is illusory. It is highlighted in paragraph 1. The correct answer is choice 3, “misleading.” In other words, the idea that all East African herbivores have the same diet is false, or misleading.

2.    [2] This is a Vocabulary question. The word being tested is sparsely. It is highlighted in paragraph 1. The correct answer is choice 2, “thinly.” In other words, highly nutritious fruits can be found only in small quantities and in few areas, so we say that they are thinly distributed.

3.    [4] This is a Negative Factual Information question asking for specific information that can be found in paragraph 1. The correct answer is choice 4. While the text states clearly that buffalo were not studied, it never states why they were not studied. The text provides the answer to the question in choice 1 by stating that Thomson’s gazelles eat a large amount of fruit. The text provides the answer to the question in choice 2 by stating that wildebeests prefer to eat leaves. The text provides the answer to the question in choice 3 by indicating that the study took place on the Serengeti Plain in East Africa.

4.    [4] This is a Vocabulary question. The word being tested is associated. It is highlighted in paragraph 2. The correct answer is choice 4, “connected.” In other words, the differences between the species are related, or connected.

5    [3]    This is a Rhetorical Purpose question. It is asking you why the author mentions the cow and the horse in paragraph 2. The correct answer is choice 3. Cows and horses are animals that are familiar to most people, so they are a useful reference point for the reader to understand the types of animals that are ruminants and nonruminants. Choice 1 is incorrect because the author is actually tiding to show that the digestive systems of cows and horses are similar to those of some East African mammals. Choice 2 is incorrect because there is no comparison made between the body size of cows and horses and that of East African mammals. The effect of body size on the feeding habits of East African mammals is discussed in paragraph 3. Choice 4 is incorrect because the diets of cows and horses are not discussed at all in the passage. Therefore a comparison to the diets of East African mammals cannot be emphasized or even made.

6. [3] This is a Factual Information question asking for specific information that can be found in paragraph 2. The correct answer is choice 3. The paragraph describes in detail the large amount of low-quality stems that zebras eat. The gazelle, wildebeest, and topi given in choices 1, 2, and 4, respectively, are all ruminants. The paragraph states specifically that ruminants are able to derive a large amount of energy from a given quantity of food, unlike nonruminants such as zebras.

7.    [2] This is an Inference question asking for an inference that can be supported by paragraph 2. The correct answer is choice 2, “The differences in stomach structure.” Paragraph 2 is devoted to discussing the differences in feeding preferences that result from the different digestive systems, and therefore different stomach structures, of ruminants and nonruminants. The factors given in choices 1, 3, and 4 are all mentioned in paragraph 2, but they are more indirectly and occasionally related to feeding preferences, whereas the differences in stomach structures are shown in the paragraph to always be the primary factor in feeding preferences.

8.    [1] This is a Negative Factual Information question asking for specific information that can be found in paragraph 2. The correct answer is choice 1. The paragraph states that gazelles are ruminants and that it “takes time” for ruminants to digest their food. Therefore it is incorrect to say that gazelles digest their food quickly. The information given in choices 2, 3, and 4 is stated in the paragraph as facts about ruminants.

9.    [1] This is a Vocabulary question. The phrase being tested is provided that. It is highlighted in the paragraph. The correct answer is choice 1, “as long as.” In other words, small animals can live with less food as long as, or if, that food has enough energy.

10.    [4] This is a Vocabulary question. The word being tested is fastidious. It is highlighted in the passage. The correct answer is choice 4, “demanding.” In other words, zebras are not veiy demanding or particular feeders.

11. [2] This is a Factual Information question asking for specific information that can be found in paragraph 4. The correct answer is choice 2, “Zebra.” The paragraph states that zebras arrive first at a given habitat and “The later species all depend on the preparations of” the zebra. According to sentences 4 and 5, the topi, wildebeest, and gazelle given in choices 1, 3, and 4, respectively, all arrive at a given habitat after the zebra and therefore benefit from the results of the zebra’s actions on the vegetation of the habitat.

12.    [3] This is a Factual Information question asking for specific information that can be found in the passage. The correct answer is choice 3. Paragraph 2 states that zebras wear down the vegetation in a given habitat, and then ruminants, such as wildebeests, arrive to feed on the remaining, lower, leafier vegetation. Paragraph 1 supports this idea by stating that wildebeests prefer to eat lower leaves. Choice 1 is contradicted in several places: paragraphs 1 and 2 each state that zebras eat stems, and wildebeests cat leaves. Choice 2 is contradicted in paragraph 2, which states that large food particles simply cannot pass through the digestive system of ruminants such as wildebeests. Choice 4 is contradicted in paragraph 2, which states that ruminants such as wildebeests do not have to resort to eating low-quality food because they can derive energy from the same quantity of food for a long time.

13.    [4] This is an Insert Text question. You can see the four black squares in paragraph 4 that represent the possible answer choices here.

The differences in feeding preferences lead, in turn, to differences in migratory habits. ■ The wildebeests follow, in their migration, the pattern of local rainfall. ■ The other species do likewise. ■ But when a new area is fueled by rain, the mammals migrate toward it in a set order to exploit it. ■ The larger, less fastidious feeders, the zebras, move in first; the choosier, smaller wildebeests come later; and the smallest species of all, Thomson’s gazelle, arrives last. The later species all depend on the preparations of the earlier one, for the actions of the zebra alter the vegetation to suit the demands of the wildebeest, topi, and gazelle.

The sentence provided, “The sequence in which they migrate correlates with their body size,” is best inserted at square 4.

Square 4 is correct because the phrase “The sequence” refers to the set order in which mammals migrate, which is mentioned in the sentence preceding square 4. Furthermore, the phrase “correlates with their body size” prepares the reader for the discussion of the larger, smaller, and smallest animals mentioned in the sentence following square 4.

Squares 1, 2, and 3 are incorrect because none of the preceding or following sentences makes a clear reference to a sequence or to body size.

14.    [2] [4] [5] This is a Prose Summary question. It is completed correctly below. The correct choices are 2, 4, and 5. Choices 1, 3, and 6 are therefore incorrect.

Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some answer choices do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

East African herbivores, though they all live in the same environment, have a range of feeding preferences.

•    An herbivore’s size and metabolic rate affect the kinds of food and the quantities of food it needs to eat.

•    The different digestive systems of herbivores explain their feeding preferences.

•    Migratory habits are influenced by feeding preferences.

Answer Choices

1.    The survival of East African mammals depends more than anything else on the quantity of highly nutritious fruits that they are able to find.

2.    An herbivore’s size and metabolic rate affect the kinds of food and the quantities of food it needs to eat.

3.    Zebras and wildebeests rarely compete for the same food resources in the same locations.

4.    The different digestive systems of herbivores explain their feeding preferences.

5.    Migratory habits are influenced by feeding preferences.

6.    Patterns in the migratory habits of East African herbivores are hard to establish.

 

Correct Choices

Choice 2, “An herbivore’s size and metabolic rate affect the kinds of food and the quantities of food it needs to eat,” is correct because it is a main idea introduced in paragraph 2 and elaborated on in paragraph 3. Sentence 2 in paragraph 2 states that body size is one of two main factors that explain feeding preferences. Paragraph 3 then explains in detail why body size is a main factor.

Choice 4, “The different digestive systems of herbivores explain their feeding preferences,” is correct because it is a major idea that is elaborated on at length in paragraph 2. This paragraph details the different digestive systems of ruminants and nonruminants and then describes the resulting feeding habits of those two types of mammals.

Choice 5, “Migratory habits are influenced by feeding preferences,” is correct because this is a major idea that is introduced in paragraph 2 and elaborated on in paragraph 4. It is a logical follow-up to the discussion in paragraphs 1 and 2 of the reasons for different feeding preferences.

Incorrect Choices

Choice 1, “The survival of East African mammals depends more than anything else on the quantity of highly nutritious fruits that they are able to find,” is incorrect according to the passage. Paragraph 1 states that only Thomson’s gazelles eat fruit. Other East African mammals discussed in the passage eat only stems and leaves.

Choice 3, “Zebras and wildebeests rarely compete for the same food resources in the same locations,” is incorrect because it is a minor idea in the passage. The feeding habits of zebras and wildebeests are discussed in the passage as specific examples of the larger ideas given in choices 2, 4, and 5.

Choice 6, “Patterns in the migratory habits of East African herbivores are hard to establish,” is contradicted by the passage. Paragraph 4 states that species follow the pattern of local rainfall in their migrations.

Loie Fuller

1.    [3] This is an Inference question asking about an inference that can be supported by paragraph 1. The correct answer is choice 3. The phrase “mere entertainer” in sentence 2 suggests that entertainment is less serious than art. Choice 1 is incorrect because we know only that other artists were attracted to Loie Fuller as an artist; there is no information about what fields these artists were in or if their work was actually influenced by Loie Fuller. Choice 2 is incorrect because there is no information about theatrical dance in the early nineteenth century. Choice 4 is incorrect because there is no indication in the paragraph about the length of time theatrical dance had been practiced.

2.    [4] This is a Negative Factual Information question asking for specific information that can be found in paragraph 2. Choice 4 is the correct answer. Sentence 2 in the paragraph states that Loie Fuller rejected technical virtuosity, so it cannot be a characteristic of her type of dance. The information in choices 1, 2, and 3 is stated in sentence 1 as part of her type of dance.

3.    [1] This is a Vocabulary question. The word being tested is prestigious. It is highlighted in the passage. The correct answer is choice 1, “highly regarded.” According to the paragraph, ballet was a distinguished, or highly regarded, dance form.

4.    [1] This is a Sentence Simplification question. As with all of these questions, a single sentence in the passage is highlighted:

Although her early theatrical career had included stints as an actress, she was not primarily interested in storytelling or expressing emotions through dance; the drama of her dancing emanated from her visual effects.

The correct answer is choice 1. Choice 1 contains all of the essential information in the tested sentence. It omits the information in the first clause (“Although her early theatrical career had included stints as an actress”) because this information is secondary to Loie Fuller’s main interest in dance.

Choices 2, 3, and 4 are all incorrect because they change the meaning of the highlighted sentence. Choices 2 and 3 are incorrect because the highlighted sentence states that Fuller was not interested in storytelling, so to say that she dramatized stories or had a particular style of storytelling is incorrect.

Choice 4 is incorrect because the highlighted sentence indicates the opposite idea: it indicates that Fuller’s early career had little effect on her style of dance.

5.    [3] This is a Vocabulary question. The word being tested is engaged. It is highlighted in the passage. The correct answer is choice 3, “hired.” In other words, Fuller began to work for the Folies Bergere.

6.    [4] This is a Vocabulary question. The word being tested is synthesize. It is highlighted in the passage. The correct answer is choice 4, “integrate.” According to the passage, French poets and painters wanted to blend, or integrate, form and content.

7.    [4] This is a Factual Information question asking for specific information that can be found in paragraph 3. The correct answer is choice 4. Sentence 2 in this paragraph states that Fuller’s dances were in accord, or agreed, with the Art Nouveau style that was fashionable in Paris at the lime. Choice 1 is incorrect because the paragraph says only that Parisian audiences liked Fuller’s work; artists and artistic movements from the United States, in general, arc not mentioned in this paragraph. Choice 2 is incorrect because the paragraph states that poets themselves were interested in Fuller’s work. It does not state that poets tried to make other people interested in her work. Choice 3 is incorrect because the paragraph states in the first sentence that Fuller discovered and introduced her ideas herself; she did not borrow or take them from other artists.

8.    [3] This is a Factual Information question asking for specific information that can be found in paragraph 4. The correct answer is choice 3. Sentence 4 in the paragraph states that Fuller invented the technique of underlighting, or lighting the dancer from beneath. Choices 1, 2, and 4 are incorrect because they inaccurately describe how certain techniques were used by Fuller. Furthermore, none of these techniques is mentioned in connection with Fuller’s Fire Dance.

9.    [3] This is a Rhetorical Purpose question asking why the author mentions Fuller’s dance titled The Sea. The correct answer is choice 3. The paragraph begins by stating that aspects of Fuller’s expertise with dance grew along with her technical expertise. The Sea is mentioned as an example of one way that Fuller’s expertise grew, or one way that she developed as an artist, which, in this case, is in the scope of her themes. Choices 1 and 2 are incorrect because The Sea is not mentioned in connection with the use of music. Choice 4 is incorrect because The Sea is not mentioned in connection with science. The paragraph states that science is the theme of a different dance by Fuller, the Radium Dance.

10.    [2] This is a Vocabulary question. The word being tested is agitated. It is highlighted in the passage. The correct answer is choice 2, “created movement in.” According to the paragraph, Fuller’s dancers made a large piece of silk move.

11.  [1] This is a Factual Information question asking for specific information that can be found in paragraph 6. The correct answer is choice 1. Sentence 1 in this paragraph states that Fuller presented works by another artist, Sada Yocco. Choice 2 is incorrect because the paragraph states that Fuller created an all-female dance company at the time of the Paris Exposition, but we do not know if that company, or any particular company, performed in Fuller’s theater. Choice 3 is incorrect because the paragraph states only that she established a school in 1908; we do not know that the school directly resulted from the Paris Exposition. Furthermore, we do not know from the paragraph that a school exists today that is named after Fuller. Choice 4 is incorrect because the paragraph does not state that Fuller’s theater continued to operate after the Paris Exposition ended.

12. [1] This is a Factual Information question asking for specific information that can be found in the passage. The correct answer is choice 1. Fire Dance is discussed in paragraph 4. It was performed to the music of Richard Wagner. The works given in choices 2, 3, and 4 are all mentioned in the passage, but only choice 2, Radium Dance, is a work by Fuller. However, the passage does not say that it was set to music. Le Lys de la Vie is a film, and Valse a la Loie is a dance by another artist.

13.[4] This is an Insert Text question. You can see the four black squares in paragraph 5 that represent the possible answer choices here.

As her technological expertise grew more sophisticated, so did other aspects of her dances. ■ Although she gave little thought to music in her earliest dances, she later used scores by Gluck, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, and Wagner, eventually graduating to Stravinsky, Faure, Debussy, and Mussorgsky, composers who were then considered progressive. ■ She began to address more ambitious themes in her dances such as The Sea, in which her dancers invisibly agitated a huge expanse of silk, played upon by colored lights. ■ Always open to scientific and technological innovations, she befriended the scientists Marie and Pierre Curie upon their discovery of radium and created Radium Dance, which simulated the phosphorescence of that element. ■ She both appeared in films—then in an early stage of development—and made them herself; the hero of her fairy-tale film Le Lys de la Vie (1919) was played by Rene Clair, later a leading French film director.

The sentence provided, “For all of her originality in dance, her interests expanded beyond it into newly emerging artistic media,” is best inserted at square 4.

The “newly emerging artistic media” are elaborated on with the information about films in the sentence following square 4.

Squares 1, 2, and 3 are incorrect because the information provided in the sentences before and after each of these squares is focused on Fuller’s dance work, whereas the given sentence directs the reader away from Fuller’s dance work and toward other forms of art.

14. [3] [4] [5] This is a Prose Summary question. It is completed correctly below. The correct choices are 3, 4, and 5. Choices 1, 2, and 6 are therefore incorrect.

Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some answer choices do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

Loie Fuller was an important and innovative dancer.

•    Fuller’s work influenced a number of other dancers who were interested in experimental dance.

•    Fuller introduced many technical innovations to the staging of theatrical dance.

•    Fuller continued to develop throughout her career, creating more complex works and exploring new artistic media.

Answer Choices

1.    Fuller believed that audiences in the late nineteenth century had lost interest in most theatrical dance.

2.    Fuller transformed dance in part by creating dance interpretations of works by poets and painters.

3.    Fuller’s work influenced a number of other dancers who were interested in experimental dance.

4.    Fuller introduced many technical innovations to the staging of theatrical dance.

5.    Fuller continued to develop throughout her career, creating more complex works and exploring new artistic media.

6.    By the 1920s, Fuller’s theater at the Paris Exposition had become the world center for innovative dance.

 

Correct Choices

Choice 3: “Fuller’s work influenced a number of other dancers who were interested in experimental dance.” This is a main idea, presented in paragraph 6. Fuller’s influence on dancers who later became famous for their own work is discussed.

Choice 4: “Fuller introduced many technical innovations to the staging of theatrical dance.” This is a main theme of the passage that is repeated in several paragraphs. Her technical innovations are detailed at length in paragraph 4 but are also mentioned in paragraphs 5 and 6.

Choice 5: “Fuller continued to develop throughout her career, creating more complex works and exploring new artistic media.” This main idea is the focus of paragraph 5, which discusses her use of music, the more complex themes that she addressed in her dances, and also the films that she appeared in and directed.

Incorrect Choices

Choice 1, “Fuller believed that audiences in the late nineteenth century had lost interest in most theatrical dance,” is incorrect because, while it could be true, the passage never makes this claim. The passage suggests only that Fuller lost interest in theatrical dance.

Choice 2, “Fuller transformed dance in part by creating dance interpretations of works by poets and painters,” is incorrect because the passage does not state that Fuller based her dances on the works of other artists. The passage states several times that Fuller’s work was entirely original: she developed her own work and, in fact, invented many techniques.

Choice 6, “By the 1920s, Fuller’s theater at the Paris Exposition had become the world center for innovative dance,” is incorrect because Fuller’s theater existed for only one year, the year of the Paris Exposition (1900). Furthermore, the passage makes no claim about any particular place as being the “center for innovative dance.”

Green Icebergs

1.    [3] This is a Negative Factual Information question testing specific information in paragraph 1. The correct answer is choice 3. The information in choice 3 is contradicted in sentence 1, which states that icebergs “float with only about 12 percent of their mass above the sea surface.” The information given in the other choices is stated in the paragraph.

2.    [2] This is a Factual Information question testing specific information in paragraph 2. The correct answer is choice 2. The information in choice 2 is taken directly from sentence 1 in the paragraph, which states that icebergs “sometimes appear dark or opaque because they carry gravel and bits of rock.” Choice 1 is incorrect because, as sentence 2 states, cloud cover may result in “pink or gold” colors, not dark colors. Choice 3 is incorrect because “the low angle of the Sun above the horizon” is discussed as a possible cause of pink or gold colors. Choice 4 is incorrect because the issue of large cracks in icebergs is not discussed in paragraph 2.

3.    [4] This is a Sentence Simplification question. As with all of these questions, a single sentence in the passage is highlighted:

One explanation for green icebergs attributes their color to an optical illusion when blue ice is illuminated by a near-horizon red Sun, but green icebergs stand out among white and blue icebergs under a great variety of light conditions.

The correct answer is choice 4. This choice contains all of the essential information, which is that (1) one explanation for the color of green icebergs is that the green color is due to an optical illusion related to the position of the Sun, but that (2) there is reason to doubt this theory because green ice-bergs stand out among white and blue icebergs under a great variety of light conditions.

Choice 1 is incorrect because it confuses the evidence against the theory with the theory itself.

Choice 2 correctly explains the theory but leaves out the essential information of the evidence against the theory.

Choice 3 is incorrect because it misrepresents the theory by saying that the green color occurs in a wide variety of light conditions, whereas the highlighted sentence says that it occurs in a very specific light condition—”a nearhorizon red Sun.”

4.    [2] This is a Vocabulary question. The word being tested is penetrate. It is highlighted in the passage. The correct answer is choice 2, “pierce.” In other-words, ice shelf cores were long enough to pierce through glacial ice.

5.    [1] This is a Factual Information question testing specific information in paragraph 4. The correct answer is choice 1. Sentence 1 in the paragraph discusses “glacial ice—which is formed from the compaction of snow.” Choice 2 is incorrect because the information given describes sea ice, a different type of ice. Choice 3 is incorrect because the information given describes the first step in the formation of green icebergs. Choice 4 is incorrect because the information given describes the second step in the formation of green icebergs.

6.    [4] This is a Factual Information question testing specific information in paragraph 4. The correct answer is choice 4. Sentence 2 in the paragraph states that clear sea ice is “very similar” to the ice from green icebergs. Choices 1, 2, and 3 do not answer the question asked. Choice 1 is also incorrect because it mistakenly identifies green icebergs as having frozen seawater at the bottom, whereas sentence 1 in the paragraph says that frozen seawater is found on the bottom of glacial ice. Choice 2 is incorrect because the information given is the opposite of what is stated in the passage, which is that bubble-free ice is formed and found on the bottom of shelf ice. Choice 3 is incorrect because the information given is not discussed in the passage at all.

7.    [3] This is a Rhetorical Purpose question. It tests why the author mentions that “The green ice portion was textured by seawater erosion.” This sentence is highlighted in the passage. The correct answer is choice 3. The highlighted sentence is evidence that the green ice part of the iceberg was once under water. The fact that this green ice is no longer under water but is now exposed to air is evidence that the green icebergs are formed from pieces of the ice shelf that have broken off and turned upside down. Choice 1 is incorrect because the information given, while factual according to the passage, does not explain why the author includes the information that the green ice portion was textured by seawater. Choice 2 is incorrect because there is no comparison made between the erosion of green ice and white ice in the paragraph. Choice 4 is incorrect because, while sentences 1 and 4 in the paragraph state that green ice has no bubbles, there is no information in the paragraph indicating that green ice initially has bubbles and that they are removed.

8.    [1] This is a Vocabulary question. The word being tested is accumulated. It is highlighted in the passage. The correct answer is choice 1, “collected.” In other words, the ice gradually collected, or built up, dissolved organic matter.

9.    [1] This is a Vocabulary question. The word being tested is excluded. It is highlighted in the passage. The correct answer is choice 1, “kept out.” In other words, dissolved organic substances are not kept out of the ice in the freezing process.

10.    [4] This is a Vocabulary question. The word being tested is accrete. It is highlighted in the passage. The correct answer is choice 4, “come together.” In other words, platelets of ice gather on the bottom of the ice shelf.

11.  [2] This is a Negative Factual Information question testing specific information in the passage. The correct answer is choice 2. The last sentence of paragraph 4 states That green icebergs capsize, but it does not state why. The information in choice 1 is presented in the last sentence of paragraph 1. It states that forward movement, melting, and waves and tidal action cause blocks of ice to break off of glaciers. The information in choice 3 is presented in paragraph 7, which says that the Amery Ice Shelf in Antarctica is “uniquely suited to the production of green icebergs.” The information in choice 4 is presented at the end of paragraph 5. It states that “dissolved organic substances are not excluded from the ice in the freezing process.”

12. [3] This is an Inference question asking for an inference that can be supported by the passage. The correct answer is choice 3. Sentences 5, 6, and 7 in paragraph 5 support this information by indicating that the seawater around these icebergs contains the decomposing material of green-pigmented organisms. This decomposing material dissolves in seawater, which then freezes as part of the iceberg. The information in choice 1 is incorrect because paragraph 7 says that the Amery Ice Shelf is well suited to the production of green icebergs. This does not mean that the Amery Ice Shelf produces only green icebergs. The information in choice 2 is incorrect because copper and iron are mentioned in paragraph 3 only as possible color sources in green icebergs. The last sentence in paragraph 3 states that a source other than copper and iron was found. The information in choice 4 is incorrect because the passage gives no indication of where all green icebergs are located. Paragraph

2 mentions the Weddell Sea in Antarctica, and paragraph 7 states that green icebergs “drift” around Antarctica. Therefore green icebergs can be found far from the Amei^ Ice Shelf.

13. [2] This is an Insert Text question. You can see the four black squares in paragraphs 2 and 3 that represent the possible answer choices here.

Icebergs are ordinarily blue to white, although they sometimes appear dark or opaque because they carry gravel and bits of rock. They may change color with changing light conditions or cloud cover, glowing pink or gold in the morning or evening light, but this color change is generally related to the low angle of the Sun above the horizon. ■ However, travelers to Antarctica have repeatedly reported seeing green icebergs in the Weddell Sea and, more commonly, close to the Amery Ice Shelf in East Antarctica.

■ One explanation for green icebergs attributes their color to an optical illusion when blue ice is illuminated by a near-horizon red Sun, but green icebergs stand out among white and blue icebergs under a great variety of light conditions. ■ Another suggestion is that color might be related to ice with high levels of metallic compounds, including copper and iron. ■ Recent expeditions have taken ice samples from green icebergs and ice cores—vertical, cylindrical ice samples reaching down to great depths—from the glacial ice shelves along the Antarctic continent. Analyses of these cores and samples provide a different solution to the problem.

The sentence provided, “Scientists have differed as to whether icebergs appear green as a result of light conditions or because of something in the ice itself,” is best inserted at square 2.

Square 2 is correct because the sentence provided introduces two possible explanations for the color of green icebergs. Paragraph 3 is the first place in the passage where explanations are offered for the color of green icebergs. The beginning of paragraph 3 is the only appropriate place to introduce these possible explanations.

Square 1 is incorrect because green icebergs are mentioned for the first time in the last sentence in paragraph 2. It does not make sense to insert the given sentence, which introduces explanations for the color of green icebergs, before the first mention of green icebergs.

Square 3 is incorrect because its position is between the detailed discussions of the two explanations introduced in the given sentence. The given sentence introduces the two explanations; therefore it must come before the discussions.

Square 4 is incorrect because its position is after the detailed discussions of the two explanations introduced in the given sentence. The given sentence introduces the two explanations; therefore it must come before the discussions.

14. [3] [4] [6] This is a Prose Summary question. It is completed correctly below.

The correct choices are 3, 4, and 6. Choices 1, 2, and 5 are therefore incorrect.

Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some answer choices do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

Several suggestions, ranging from light conditions to the presence of metallic compounds, have been offered to explain why some icebergs appear green.

•    Green icebergs form when a two-layer block of ice breaks away from a glacier and capsizes, exposing the bottom sea ice to view.

•    Ice cores and samples revealed that both ice shelves and green icebergs contain a layer of bubbly glacial ice and a layer of bubble-free sea ice.

•    In a green iceberg, the sea ice contains large concentrations of organic matter from the seawater.

Answer Choices

1.    Ice cores were used to determine that green icebergs were formed from the compaction of metallic compounds, including copper and iron.

2.    All ice shelves can produce green icebergs, but the Amery Ice Shelf is especially well suited to do so.

3.    Green icebergs form when a two-layer block of ice breaks away from a glacier and capsizes, exposing the bottom sea ice to view.

4. Ice cores and samples revealed that both ice shelves and green icebergs contain a layer of bubbly glacial ice and a layer of bubble-free sea ice.

5.    Green icebergs are white until they come into contact with seawater con taining platelets and soluble organic green pigments.

6.    In a green iceberg, the sea ice contains large concentrations of organic matter from the seawater.

Correct Choices

Choice 3, “Green icebergs form when a two-layer block of ice breaks away from a glacier and capsizes, exposing the bottom sea ice to view,” is correct because it summarizes important parts of paragraphs 4 and 5. These explain that green icebergs are capsized pieces of ice that have broken off of an ice shelf.

Choice 4, “Ice cores and samples revealed that both ice shelves and green icebergs contain a layer of bubbly glacial ice and a layer of bubble-free sea ice,” is correct because it summarizes the key information in paragraphs 3 and that explains how scientists were able to determine how green icebergs are formed. The scientists compared ice from green icebergs to ice from ice shelves by drilling ice core samples out of ice shelves.

Choice 6, “In a green iceberg, the sea ice contains large concentrations of organic matter from the seawater,” is correct because it summarizes the key information from paragraph 5 about the source of the green pigments in green icebergs.

Incorrect Choices

Choice 1, “Ice cores were used to determine that green icebergs were formed from the compaction of metallic compounds, including copper and iron,” is incorrect because it is factually incorrect according to the passage. The last sentence in paragraph 3 contradicts this idea.

Choice 2, “All ice shelves can produce green icebergs, but the Amery Ice Shelf is especially well suited to do so,” is incorrect because the passage does not state at any point that ice shelves other than the Amery Ice Shelf can produce green icebergs.

Choice 5, “Green icebergs are white until they come into contact with seawater containing platelets and soluble organic green pigments,” is incorrect because the passage never discusses whether green icebergs are originally white, or any particular color.