of species tampering is a perversion of the ideal of wildlife management and will irrevocably trans- form our national landscape. 5. The primary goal of this passage is to a. demonstrate the fragility of an endangered species. b. demonstrate the importance of effective wildlife management. c. argue that mixing species to ensure a species’ survival is wrong. d. demonstrate the effectiveness of mixing species. e. limit development in areas with endangered species. 6. The author supports the central idea of this passage primarily by a. contrasting the Florida panther with the Texas panther. b. showing how interbreeding has destroyed the Florida panther species. c. attacking government wildlife protection policies. d. showing how human encroachment has depleted Florida’s panther population. e. describing the history of panthers in the United States. 7. It can be inferred from the passage that a. extinction is preferable to mixing species. b. wildlife protection and development are completely incompatible. c. wildlife protection agencies are in the pocket of development corporations. d. scientist and government officials are equally disappointed with the results of the experiment. e. there are alternatives to interbreeding, but they take longer. 8. The author suggests that blame for the extinction of Florida panthers rests chiefly upon a. government officials who bowed to pressure from developers. b. developers who encroached upon protected areas. c. scientists who suggested interbreeding as a solution. d. advocates of species preservation. e. wildlife agencies that did not act sooner to protect the panther population. 9. The passage suggests that the author a. is a former member of the Wildlife Protection Agency. b. is willing to compromise if it means the survival of a species. c. is afraid that species tampering will become the norm in wildlife preservation management. d. believes the government has encouraged species tampering as a means of conducting genetic experiments. e. believes that “sustainable numbers” statistics are not realistic and lead to the expedited extinction of species. – VERBAL SECTION PRACTICE TEST– 173 Questions 10 — 14 refer to the following passage. Using art to condemn the moral shortcomings of society is nothing new. English artist William Hogarth (1697 — 1764) was renowned for prints that revealed the moral lapses of eighteenth-cen- tury England. Despite the fact that Hogarth enjoyed the patronage of England’s wealthier citizens, he did not shrink away from producing scathing depictions of all levels of English society. In the ten-print series Industry and Idleness, Hogarth presents two apprentices who begin working side by side only to arrive at vastly different ends. The first apprentice is portrayed as a morally incorruptible, diligent worker. He is promoted, marries his boss’s daughter, and achieves great distinction and financial success. The other apprentice does little work and engages in many unsavory activities. He is fired from his apprenticeship and continues down a path of illicit behav- ior and corruption. The series comes to a climax when the two former coworkers are reunited with the industrious apprentice — now elevated to alderman — standing in judgment of the idle coworker brought before him for murder. The idle apprentice is sentenced to death and executed, whereas the industrious apprentice goes on to become Lord Mayor of London. Among Hogarth’s most popular series was The Rake’s Progress, which tells the story of wealthy Tom Rakewell. In the first of eight prints, Tom inherits a large sum of money that he fool- ishly spends on enhancing his image and prestige in superficial ways. His prodigal ways lead to his rapid decline as he is arrested for debt and in return marries an old maid for her money. He begins gambling, is imprisoned, and eventually goes insane in Bedlam. Tom’s descent and desperate out- come, like many of Hogarth’s subjects, is tied directly to moral corruption and poor self-discipline. It is interesting that Hogarth’s prints were extremely popular in his day. Whatever the moral shortcomings of eighteenth-century England, its citizens welcomed Hogarth’s social critiques and harsh judgments. 10. According to the passage, Hogarth’s prints a. portrayed many different kinds of moral corruption. b. focused on the weak and disenfranchised. c. were extremely controversial. d. often offended his wealthy patrons. e. are extremely valuable today. 11. The passage suggests that Hogarth’s work is important because a. Hogarth developed the technique of story-telling through prints. b. Hogarth defied authorities and convention by depicting the life of common criminals. c. it reveals the hardships of life in eighteenth-century England. d. it provides a critical view of the moral shortcomings of Hogarth’s society. e. it demonstrates that art is an important medium for social change. – VERBAL SECTION PRACTICE TEST– 174 12. The description of Industry and Idleness suggests that a. people in eighteenth-century England were too quick to judge each other. b. the moral choices people make determine whether they will succeed or fail. c. apprentices often engaged in immoral behavior in Hogarth’s time. d. successful politicians are morally incorruptible. e. the moral apprentice feels sorry for his former coworker. 13. Based on the passage, which of the following best expresses the main lesson of Hogarth’s work? a. If you are diligent and industrious, you will achieve great distinction. b. Wealth leads to moral corruption. c. Do not judge others until you have walked in their shoes. d. Some people are born immoral and cannot be changed. e. Wise choices and self-discipline can keep us from moral lapses. Questions 14 — 17 refer to the following passage. The labor market is changing yet again. Increasingly, American business is turning to interim staffing to cover a greater number of its employment vacancies. Once interim (or temporary) staffing was reserved for the lower-level positions requiring little training, such as an envelope stuffer, receptionist, day laborer, and the like. Today, however, a more highly trained professional is being sought for interim work. It is not uncommon to find computer programmers, writers, marketing professionals, CPAs, and even chief financial officers working in an interim capacity. The reasons for these changes in staffing norms is generated at both the employer and employee level. Employers are pushing the drive toward interim staffing in order to maintain maximum flex- ibility. Companies can be more innovative and flexible in their planning cycles if they have the option to hire employees on an as-needed basis. Additionally, employers save money using interim staffers, as they are not required to provide health insurance to temporary workers and they are not obligated to pay severance when the job terminates. Employees, too, are pushing the trend toward interim staffing. Increasingly, professionals are seeking more flexibility in their work schedules — often in response to family obligations. No longer does the permanent 9 to 5, Monday through Friday schedule work for everyone. By working interim, employees can work when it fits their schedules. However, interim staffing is not for everyone. Organizations whose workflow requires con- tinuity of personnel may find interim staffing an impediment to productivity. Likewise, employ- ees who need a steady source of income or who require the health insurance and other benefits provided by permanent employers may find the unpredictability in interim work problematic. – VERBAL SECTION PRACTICE TEST– 175 14. According to the passage, the main benefit to employers of interim staffing is a. cost savings from not having to provide benefits. b. constant influx of new ideas. c. flexibility in hiring. d. flexibility in scheduling. e. a more highly trained interim employee pool. 15. The main purpose of this passage is to a. convince employers to use interim staffing. b. explain the difference between temporary and permanent staffing. c. explain which companies benefit most from interim staffing. d. explain why interim staffing has become popular with employers and employees. e. convince employers that interim employees also deserve health benefits. 16. Given the author’s purpose, which of the following would most enhance this passage? a. an interview with an interim employee b. statistics illustrating the increased emphasis on interim staffing c. a discussion of whether interim employees deserve benefits d. examples of positions that are not good for interim employees e. statistics illustrating how much a company can save by using interim employees 17. From the passage, it can be inferred that a. interim employment is appealing to many segments of the labor market. b. interim employees are often less qualified than permanent employees. c. because of cost savings, interim employees will eventually overtake most permanent positions. d. because of scheduling flexibility, more permanent employees will opt for interim positions. e. interim staffing is itself a temporary solution to fluctuations in the labor market. Questions 18 — 22 refer to the following passage. Today, children whose parents are deemed incapable of caring for them are put into foster care. These children are moved into strangers’ homes, where they are cared for until their own parents can regain custody, which may not happen for years, if it happens at all. Although it means well, the current foster care program is so poorly funded, staffed, and managed that it cannot ensure the safety and well being of the children in the system. The laudable idea behind foster care is that children will fare best if placed in a family set- ting until they can be reunited with their parents, even if it is a family of strangers. However, while in foster care, children typically get shuffled between many different foster homes, preventing them from developing long-term, supportive relationships with their foster families. Foster care place- ments can also force siblings to be separated, further isolating these vulnerable children. When a – VERBAL SECTION PRACTICE TEST– 176 child is moved to a new foster home, he or she may also have to enroll in a new school, a disrup- tive process that has a negative impact on the child’s education. The bureaucracy that oversees this system is overwhelmed to the point that social workers are unable to adequately screen potential foster parents and keep accurate track of the children placed in foster care. There must be a better means of caring for these children. Perhaps it is time to consider cre- ating special group homes as a means of providing these children with stable and safe environ- ments. A child could live in one group home for the duration of his or her time in foster care and be supervised by a team of social workers and other lay people. Children would receive proper meals and healthcare, attend the same school, and develop relationships with others experienc- ing the trauma of being separated from their parents. In addition, social workers and staff would have daily access to these children, enabling them to better determine if a child has a special phys- ical or psychological need and arrange for the necessary services. Would this approach be perfect? No, but it would solve many of the problems that plague the current system. For some, the idea of a government agency housing, clothing, and feeding needy children may sound extreme, but it only suggests that we provide these children with the same basic necessities that we give to prison inmates. 18. Which of the following best expresses the main idea of this passage? a. The current foster care system is a failure. b. Government-run group homes would be a better option than foster care. c. Group homes for children are similar to prisons. d. Children in foster care need more stability. e. No childcare system is perfect. 19. According to the passage, a group home system has all of the following advantages over the current foster care system EXCEPT a. children would be reunited with their parents more quickly. b. it is easier to keep track of children in the system. c. children would have daily contact with social workers. d. children would stay in the same school. e. children would have better access to special services. 20. The passage suggests that the idea of creating group homes in lieu of foster care a. is long overdue. b. is the only viable option to foster care. c. is likely to meet with much resistance. d. should be researched extensively. e. is a basic right that should not be denied to children in need. – VERBAL SECTION PRACTICE TEST– 177 21. It can be inferred from the passage that the author a. was once in prison. b. believes foster care parents are often too lenient. c. was a foster child. d. believes prison inmates are treated better than some children in foster care. e. believes group homes are essentially prisons for children. 22. The passage states that a. children in group homes would get a better education than children in foster care. b. children in group homes would have more individual attention than children in foster care. c. children in groups homes would find comfort in being with other children who have been taken from their parents. d. group homes are more cost effective than foster care. e. a group home system is less likely to be bogged down by bureaucracy. Questions 23 — 25 refer to the following passage. Polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS (aka Stein-Leventhal disease), is a condition that affects between 6% and 20% of women in the United States. It is a little understood syndrome that often goes undetected and is frequently misdiagnosed. PCOS produces tiny cysts on the surface of a woman’s ovaries. These cysts are undeveloped follicles (eggs) that inexplicably fail to release through the ovarian wall as part of the menstrual cycle. Some researchers believe the eggs fail to release from the ovary because of the presence of male hormones in the blood. However, new research is indicating that PCOS is related to insulin resistance. Unfortunately, the cysts themselves are only a small part of this syndrome. PCOS can present a variety of symptoms, including hair growth on the face and chest, stub- born acne, hair loss, obesity, irregular menses, infertility, and an increased risk of diabetes. Many of these symptoms impact a woman’s physical appearance and her self-esteem. If left untreated, women suffering from PCOS may experience greater levels of stress and depression. A woman exhibiting any of these symptoms should contact her physician to determine if she has PCOS. Although there is no cure for PCOS, a number of different treatments can stop or reverse many of the symptoms. 23. According to the passage, many women who have PCOS a. are unable to have children. b. have an excess of male hormones in their blood. c. overreact to the symptoms. d. cannot afford proper treatment. e. do not even know they have the disease. – VERBAL SECTION PRACTICE TEST– 178 . the results of the experiment. e. there are alternatives to interbreeding, but they take longer. 8. The author suggests that blame for the extinction of Florida panthers rests chiefly upon a. government. positions. e. interim staffing is itself a temporary solution to fluctuations in the labor market. Questions 18 — 22 refer to the following passage. Today, children whose parents are deemed incapable of caring. that we provide these children with the same basic necessities that we give to prison inmates. 18. Which of the following best expresses the main idea of this passage? a. The current foster care