JUNE 2025 R&W (MODULE 1)

1.

A team of archaeologists examined 150 spherically shaped limestone rocks

called spheroids that date back about 1.4 million years, concluding that early
hominins intentionally chipped away at rocks to form these spheroids over
time. The fact that their attempt to make the stones as round as possible was
_____ suggests that early hominins may have been more cognitively
sophisticated than previously thought.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or
phrase?
A. comparable C. concerning
B. sympathetic D. deliberate

2. The following text is adapted from Virginia Woolf’s 1919 novel Night and Day.
Katharine is the granddaughter of a celebrated poet.

[Katharine’s] descent from [a celebrated poet] was no surprise to her, but

matter for satisfaction, until, as the years wore on, certain drawbacks made
themselves very manifest. Perhaps it is a little depressing to inherit not lands
but an example of intellectual virtue; perhaps the conclusiveness of a great
ancestor is a little discouraging to those who run the risk of comparison with
him.

As used in the text, what does the word “manifest” most nearly mean?
A. possible C. complex
B. evident D. particular

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3. The following text is adapted from Anthony Trollope’s 1855 novel The
Warden. The narrator is describing a rectory, the residence of a clergyperson.

Let us observe the well-furnished breakfast-parlour at Plumstead Episcopi, and

the comfortable air of all the belongings of the rectory. Comfortable they
certainly were, but neither gorgeous nor even grand; indeed, considering the
money that had been spent there, the eye and taste might have been better
served; there was an air of heaviness about the rooms which might have been
avoided without any sacrifice of propriety; colours might have been better
chosen and lights more perfectly diffused; but perhaps in doing so the
thorough clerical aspect of the whole might have been somewhat marred.

Which choice best states the function of the underlined portion in the text as a
whole?
A. It offers a potential explanation for the furnishing choices the narrator
critiques.
B. It emphasizes that the narrator finds it inappropriate for a clergyperson to
have such grand furnishings.
C. It signals how the inexpensive-looking ornaments in the rectory could be
enhanced.
D. It concedes that there is a lack of attention to the impression the rectory
makes on people.

4.
Text 1
Ollantay is a play in Quechua, an Indigenous language in South America. The
play portrays life in the Inca Empire before Spain invaded in the 1500s. Yet the
oldest known text of the play is from 1770, and in many places its writing style
resembles the writing style of Spanish plays from the 1700s. Thus, Ollantay was
probably created in the late 1700s by someone who knew much about the Inca
past.

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Text 2
Ollantay includes details of Inca society that a writer in the 1700s wouldn’t
have known about. Also, the play’s structure matches descriptions of the
structure of Inca drama from the 1500s. The obvious explanation is that
Ollantay itself is an Inca work from the 1500s. It could have been performed
continuously from the 1500s to the 1700s. By the time it was written down in
1770, it could have easily been influenced by later Spanish plays.

Based on the texts, what do the author of Text 1 and the author of Text 2
mainly disagree about?
A. What inspired a Spanish writer in the 1700s to write a play about the Inca
Empire.
B. Whether Ollantay is an Inca play from the 1500s or was instead created
much later, in the 1700s.
C. How the Inca author of Ollantay knew so much about plays from Spain.
D. Why Inca plays became more popular in the 1700s than they had been when
they were first performed in the 1500s.

5.

In a period of great prosperity during his reign, Egyptian pharaoh Amenemhat

III (circa 1800 BCE) had a pyramid with a massive substructure built at Hawara.
The underground complex was largely dismantled in antiquity, but accounts of
its splendor remain, including one from Greek historian Herodotus, who
claimed to have seen it. In his Histories (circa 425 BCE), Herodotus writes of
3,000 chambers adorned with carved figures, a dozen courts flanked by white
stone pillars, and many winding passages in the complex, characterizing it as a
great labyrinth and “an unending marvel.”

According to the text, what information did Herodotus include in his Histories?

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A. An account of the magnificence of the complex that once stood beneath the
pyramid at Hawara.
B. A record of how long it took for the pyramid complex to be constructed at
Hawara.
C. A discussion of how building the pyramid and complex at Hawara led to a
period of prosperity.
D. An explanation of how Herodotus was able to arrange to see the pyramid
and complex at Hawara.

6.

Dubautia carrii is among the twenty-eight species silversword plants found only
on the Hawaiian archipelago that collectively illustrate the process of adaptive
radiation, or the rapid diversification of an ancestral species into different,
related species. Each silversword species is physically distinct, with mature
plant forms ranging from trees and shrubs to vines. However, they all
descended from a common tarweed plant species, with their unique physical
characteristics emerging as they adapted to the archipelago’s many specific
habitats over time.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

A. All silverswords that grow on the Hawaiian archipelago have similar physical
characteristics.
B. The Hawaiian archipelago exhibits many distinct habitats and species.
C. Most plants that grow on the Hawaiian archipelago are descendants of a
single founder species.
D. Silverswords are good examples of adaptive radiation on the Hawaiian
archipelago.

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7.
Total Areas of Five Tribal Nations around the United States

Tribal nation Location Area (square miles)

White Mountain Apache Tribe Arizona 2,631
Crow Tribe Montana 3,606
Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Minnesota 1,311
Chickasaw Nation Oklahoma 7,648
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe South Dakota 4,419
A citizen of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe is a student in a geography class.
The student wants to compare the total area covered by her tribal nation in
Minnesota with the total areas covered by certain tribal nations in other states.
Looking at the table, she finds that the area of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe is
1,311 square miles, while the area of the White Mountain Apache Tribe in
Arizona is _____.

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the
comparison?
A. 7,648 square miles C. 4,419 square miles
B. 2,631 square miles D. 3,606 square miles

8.

As of 2023, Turkey has 1,015 kilometers of high-speed rail lines in operation

and 614 kilometers under construction; in Germany, 1,630 kilometers are in
operation with 3,262 kilometers under construction. In contrast, the United
States has a relatively low amount of high-speed rail for its size: only 735
kilometers of high-speed rail in operation and 1,789 kilometers under
construction. Many US transportation experts argue that this should change,
claiming that high-speed rail is more cost-effective than highway systems are.

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Which finding, if true, would most directly support the US transportation
experts’ claim?
A. In most locations in the US, increasing highway capacity is more expensive
relative to the volume of traffic that can be accommodated than increasing
high-speed rail capacity is.
B. In much of the US, the existing rail infrastructure is so old that it would have
to be replaced entirely in order to accommodate high-speed trains.
C. Building successful high-speed rail infrastructure would require that the US
government establish a fund to maintain the rail lines long-term.
D. Unlike people in the United States, people in Turkey and Germany are less
interested in traveling by highway than they are in traveling by high-speed rail.

9.

Careful planning was essential for the success of the Deep Impact probe, which
conducted a flyby of comet 9P/Tempel and then traveled to comet
103P/Hartley. The CONTOUR probe mission seemed similarly well planned, but
engineers lost communications with the probe before it could achieve the
mission goal of visiting comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann. This shows that
_____

Which choice most logically completes the text?

A. the Deep Impact was more successful than the CONTOUR because it had
fewer tasks to accomplish.
B. having multiple mission goals ensures that a probe will accomplish at least
one of its tasks.
C. the CONTOUR would likely have accomplished its tasks if it had been sent
somewhere other than comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann.
D. careful planning alone does not guarantee that a probe will accomplish its
mission.

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10.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the singer Frank “Machito” Grillo performed with
Cuba’s most popular dance orchestras. However, the fusion of Latin music and
American jazz that Machito innovated while performing in New York City is
what has _____

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of

Standard English?
A. earned him his enduring fame?
B. his enduring fame earned him?
C. his enduring fame earned him.
D. earned him his enduring fame.

11.

Like almost every country in the world, Britain has been allocated an
international dialing prefix to help route incoming international calls. First
assigned to Britain in the 1960s Red Book, a directory published by a United
Nations telecommunications agency, _____

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of

Standard English?
A. international direct dialing was not widely available until the 1970s, so
initially, only switchboard operators used the prefix.
B. not until the 1970s did international direct dialing become widely available,
meaning that, initially, only switchboard operators used the prefix.
C. initially, only switchboard operators used the prefix, as international direct
dialing was not widely available until the 1970s.
D. the prefix was used by only switchboard operators initially, as international
direct dialing was not widely available until the 1970s.

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12.

Artist and writer Kameelah Janan Rasheed wanted to demonstrate the value of
textual revision and to encourage audiences to embrace it as a sign of learning.
_____ she was transparent about the revision process for her 2019 book No
New Theories, adding annotations to the original text to indicate where her
ideas had shifted or deepened.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
A. Thus, C. Instead,
B. Nevertheless, D. Later,