SHSAT 2.3 Reading

1. Passage for Questions 1-6

Another argument that is made much of is the intellectual inferiority of woman. For ages women were allowed no higher education than reading, writing, and simple arithmetic, often not even these; yet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, George Sand, George Eliot, Harriet Martineau, Jane Austen, and some scores of others did work which showed them to be the peers of any minds of their day. And if no woman can justly claim to have attained an eminence such as that of Shakespeare in letters or of Darwin in science, we may question whether Shakespeare would have been Shakespeare or Darwin if the society which surrounded them had insisted that it was a sin for them to use their minds and that they should not presume to meddle with knowledge. When a girl for the first time in America took a public examination in geometry, in 1829, men wagged their heads gravely and prophesied the speedy dissolution of family and state.

To the list of women whose service for their fellows would have been lost if the old-time barriers had been maintained, may be added the name of the late Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi. Mary Putnam secured her preliminary medical education in the early '60's, and found herself keenly troubled and dissatisfied at the inadequacy of the facilities extended to women for the study of medicine. She insisted that if women practitioners were to be, as she expressed it, "turned loose" upon the community with license to practice, they should, not only as a matter of justice to themselves but of protection for the women and children whose lives they would have in their hands, be properly qualified.

At the time in question, the medical profession took the ground that women might enjoy the benefit of a little medical education but they were denied the facilities for any thorough training or for any research work. Mary Putnam secured her graduate degree from the great medical school of the University of Paris, being the first woman who had been admitted to the school since the fourteenth century. Returning after six years of thorough training, she did much during the remaining years of her life to secure and to maintain for women physicians the highest possible standard of training and of practice. It was natural that with this experience of the requirement of equal facilities for women in her own work, she should always have been a believer in the extension of equal facilities for any citizen's work for which, after experience, women might be found qualified. She was, therefore, an ardent advocate of equal suffrage.

One needs but recall the admirable intellectual work of women today to wonder at the imbecility of those who assert that women are intellectually the inferiors of men. Madame Curie in science, Miss Tarbell in political and economic history, Miss Jane Addams in sociological writings and practice, the Rev. Anna Howard Shaw in the ministry, Mrs. Hetty Green in business, are a few examples of women whose mental ability ought to bring a blush to the Old Guard. Mrs. Harriman and Mrs. Sage, who manage properties of many millions, are denied the privilege of voting in regard to the expenditure of their taxes; but every ignorant man can cast a vote, thanks to the doctrine that the political acumen of a man, however degraded, is superior to that of a woman, however great her genius—an admirable obedience to the saw in Ecclesiasticus that the badness of men is better than the goodness of women.

1. Which of the following best tells what this passage is about?

The intellectual inferiority of women.

A refutation of a common argument against women’s suffrage.

A brief history of famous women.

The challenges women faced when they were first granted acceptance into medical school.

The need for properly trained doctors.

2. The author mentioned Shakespeare and Darwin in order to

Show that no woman will ever attain greatness on that level.

Make the point that intellectual contributions are as much a product of society as one’s mental ability.

Give examples of well-known men who opposed women’s suffrage.

Give examples of well-known men who supported women’s suffrage.

Give examples of well-known men who had received higher education.

3. Given that this excerpt was written in 1910, the author mentioned the year 1829 in line 19 in order to

Prove that the author is well-versed in history.

Show that American girls only started learning geometry in 1829.

Prove that education led to the speedy dissolution of family and state.

Prove that attitudes and arguments regarding women and academics have been present for a long time.

Show that prevailing attitudes regarding women and academics have changed completely in that time period.

4. Why was Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi’s work so important?

Her experiences were vital to bringing about women’s suffrage.

She ensured that women physicians were well-trained and were held to the same standard as men, saving many lives in the process.

She was admitted into the great medical school of the University of Paris.

She was the first woman to be admitted into medical school since the fourteenth century.

She had received many years of thorough training.

5. This passage would most likely be found in

A modern day pamphlet given out at a political rally.

An objective textbook about the history of women’s suffrage.

A persuasive essay advocating women’s suffrage.

A historical text advocating for women’s inclusion in universities.

A book about women’s advances in the field of medicine.

6. Which of the following statements would the author most agree with?

Everybody should be tested on their intellect before they are allowed to vote.

The political acumen of a man is superior to that of a woman.

Progress is never guaranteed.

Prevailing attitudes about women and education need to change.

There are not enough intelligent women to justify extending the vote to them.

7. Passage for Questions 7-12

Taxidermy, which is derived from two Greek words, a literal translation of which would signify the "arrangement of skins," appears to have been practiced in a limited degree ages ago, for may we not say without doubt that the first taxidermists were the ancient Egyptians, who, despite the fact that they seldom or never appear to have removed the skin as a whole, as in our modern methods, yet, taking into consideration the excellent manner in which they preserved their human or other bodies for thousands of years by the aid of injections, spices, essential oils, or whatnot, they may, I think, be fairly placed in the front rank as the first taxidermists the world has known. For an account of the arts used in embalming, see Herodotus, who says:

In Egypt, certain persons are appointed by law to exercise this art (embalming) as their peculiar business; and when a dead body is brought them they produce patterns of mummies in wood imitated in painting, the most elaborate of which are said to be of him (Osiris) whose name I do not think it right to mention on this occasion. The second which they show is simpler and less costly; the third is the cheapest. Having exhibited them all, they inquire of the persons who have applied to them which method they wish to be adopted, and this being settled, and the price agreed upon, the parties return, leaving the body with the embalmers.

In preparing it according to the first method, they commence by extracting the brain from the nostrils with a curved iron probe, partly clearing the head by this means, and partly by pouring in certain drugs; then, making an incision in the side with a sharp Ethiopian stone, they draw out the intestines through the aperture. Having cleansed and washed them with palm wine they cover them with pounded aromatics, and afterwards filling the cavity with powder of pure, myrrh, cassia, and other fragrant substances, frankincense excepted, they sew it up again. This being done, they salt the body, keeping it in natron seventy days, to which period they are strictly confined. When the seventy days are over they wash the body and wrap it up entirely in bands of fine linen smeared on their inner side with gum, which the Egyptians generally use instead of glue. The relatives then take away the body, and have a wooden ease made in the form of a man, in which they deposit it, and, when fastened up, they keep it in a room in their house, placing it upright against the wall. This is the most costly method of embalming.

For those who choose the middle-kind, on account of the expense, they prepare the body as follows: They fill syringes with oil of cedar, and inject this into the abdomen, without making any incision or removing the bowels, and, taking care that the liquid shall not escape, they keep it in salt during the specified number of days. The cedar oil is then taken out, and such is its strength, that it brings with it the bowels and all the inside in a state of dissolution. The natron also dissolves the flesh, so that nothing remains but the skin and bones. This process being over, they restore the body without any further operation.

The third kind of embalming is only adopted for the poor. In this they merely cleanse the body, by an injection of syrmoea, and salt it during seventy days, after which it is returned to the friends who brought it.

7. Which of the following best tells what this passage is about?

The best way to preserve a body.

Three different ways Egyptians preserved bodies.

Contrasting modern and ancient ways of preserving bodies.

The different kinds of spices and oils used in embalming bodies.

The history of taxidermy.

8. According to the passage, modern taxidermy and ancient Egyptian taxidermy differ in that

Modern taxidermy is limited to animals, while ancient Egyptian taxidermy is limited to humans.

Modern taxidermists are not appointed by law, while ancient Egyptian taxidermists are.

Modern taxidermy does not use injections, spices, and oils, while ancient Egyptian taxidermy does.

Modern taxidermy removes the skin, while ancient Egyptian taxidermy doesn’t.

Modern taxidermy does not compare to ancient Egyptian taxidermy because mummies can last thousands of years.

9. This passage would most likely be found in

A textbook about ancient Egyptian embalming.

A magazine article giving tips for modern taxidermists.

A book about the origins and history of taxidermy.

A brochure from a museum with an exhibit of Egyptian mummies.

A scientific paper highlighting new discoveries in ancient Egyptian embalming techniques.

10. The author mentions Herodotus in order to

Show that the author is well acquainted with Herodotus.

Show that the author agrees with Herodotus’ views on embalming.

Present another viewpoint to the reader.

Give proper credit to the account of ancient Egyptian embalming methods.

Prove that the author is widely traveled.

11. What is the function of the cedar oil?

To make sure the bodies don’t rot.

To make sure that there is no air in the abdomen.

To fill up the abdomen.

To dissolve the intestines.

To make sure the bodies don’t smell badly.

12. Which step is consistent throughout all three methods?

The bodies are always desiccated with natron.

They always remove the brain first.

They always remove the intestines.

They always use cedar oil.

They wrap up the bodies with linen.

13. Passage for Questions 13-18

All the solitary kinds of bees, wasps, ants, and sandwasps appear to feed themselves on vegetable juices, honey, etc., but there is a well-marked division between those who provision the cells of their offspring with insects, either fully developed or in the larval stages, and those who provision them with the pollen of flowers, honey, etc. The theory is that originally all fed their cells with insects, but that by degrees the more progressive found that the food which suited themselves would equally nourish their offspring, and accordingly provided them with vegetable nourishment. We find no intermediate stages. A certain class still goes on feeding on the old principle. The members of this class are known as "fossors" or diggers, while those which feed on the new principle are called "Anthophila" or flower-lovers. These are not very happy names, as many of the Anthophila dig out holes for their nests just in the same way as the fossors do, and many of the fossors are found in flowers, apparently enjoying them just as much as a truly anthophilous species would, although no doubt often with the ulterior object of capturing some insect for their young! Still these names are known as representing these two sections all over the world, and therefore it is better to keep to them even if they are not as descriptive as one would like them to be.

The fossors, or "diggers," have all comparatively short and bifid tongues, and have, as a rule, little in the way of hairy covering, and what hairs they have are simple and only in very rare instances branched or feather-like. The hind legs of the females are not modified in any way so as to enable them to collect pollen, their legs are usually long and slender, and they are admirably adapted to their life habits of hunting spiders, insects, etc., for their young.

On the other hand, the Anthophila or "flower-lovers", are specially adapted for pollen collecting. Their tongues vary from a short form like that of some fossors to the long tongues of the humble bees. Their hairs are always plumose or branched on some part of the body and the hind legs of the females in most species are provided on the tibia or shin with a special brush on which pollen may be collected. In some of the long-tongued bees, however, this brush occurs on the underside of the body instead of on the tibia. The pollen-collecting arrangements of the different genera of the Anthophila and the corresponding organs for cleaning off the pollen again are amongst the most interesting instances of modification and adaptation: some of the more striking of these will be mentioned later on.

13. Which of the following best tells what this passage is about?

The deficiencies found in common scientific terms.

The differences between solitary bees, wasps, ants, and sandwasps.

Two different categories found in solitary bees, wasps, ants, and sandwasps.

The different methods of collecting pollen.

The evolutionary history of solitary bees, wasps, ants, and sandwasps.

14. Why did some species begin to feed their offspring with vegetable nourishment?

Vegetable nourishment provides more calories.

Insects are too difficult to catch.

It’s more convenient to provide them with vegetable nourishment.

It’s a more progressive lifestyle for insects.

The changing environment forced them to adapt.

15. According to the passage, the terms fossors and Anthophila are problematic because

Anthophila have many characteristics of fossors.

Fossors have many characteristics of anthophila.

They are outdated terms that have not been used in recent memory.

They do not account for the fact that there are many exceptions to these categories.

They are known all over the world.

16. In lines 30 and 40-41, why did the author put the words “diggers” and “flower-lovers” in quotation marks?

The author wished to show that not all the insects put into those categories are exclusively diggers or flower-lovers.

The author wished to define the preceding words.

The author was quoting from an outside source.

The author wished to indicate a tone of sarcasm.

The author wanted to put emphasis on those words.

17. The plumose hairs of the anthophila are most likely used to

Maintain internal body temperature.

Carry pollen.

Clean off pollen.

Scenting pheromones in the air.

Differentiate them from fossors.

18. According to the passage as a whole, which of the following is most likely to be true?

Fossors originally had hair, but later lost it.

Fossors originally had no hair, but later adapted the mutation.

Anthophila originally had no hair, but later adapted the mutation.

Anthophila originally had hair, and later developed it into interesting and striking modifications and adaptations.

Both fossors and anthophila originally had hair in their ancestral states.

19. Passage for Questions 19-24

It is impossible to take a walk in the country with an average townsman—especially, perhaps, in April or May—without being amazed at the vast continent of his ignorance. It is impossible to take a walk in the country oneself without being amazed at the vast continent of one's own ignorance. Thousands of men and women live and die without knowing the difference between a beech and an elm, between the song of a thrush and the song of a blackbird. Probably in a modern city the man who can distinguish between a thrush's and a blackbird's song is the exception. It is not that we have not seen the birds. It is simply that we have not noticed them. We have been surrounded by birds all our lives, yet so feeble is our observation that many of us could not tell whether or not the chaffinch sings, or the color of the cuckoo. We argue like small boys as to whether the cuckoo always sings as he flies or sometimes in the branches of a tree—whether Chapman drew on his fancy or his knowledge of nature in the lines:

When in the oak's green arms the cuckoo sings,
And first delights men in the lovely springs.

This ignorance, however, is not altogether miserable. Out of it we get the constant pleasure of discovery. Every fact of nature comes to us each spring, if only we are sufficiently ignorant, with the dew still on it. If we have lived half a lifetime without having ever even seen a cuckoo, and know it only as a wandering voice, we are all the more delighted at the spectacle of its runaway flight as it hurries from wood to wood conscious of its crimes, and at the way in which it halts hawk-like in the wind, its long tail quivering, before it dares descend on a hillside of fir trees where avenging presences may lurk. It would be absurd to pretend that the naturalist does not also find pleasure in observing the life of the birds, but his is a steady pleasure, almost a sober and plodding occupation, compared to the morning enthusiasm of the man who sees a cuckoo for the first time, and, behold, the world is made new.

And, as to that, the happiness even of the naturalist depends in some measure upon his ignorance, which still leaves him new worlds of this kind to conquer. He may have reached the very zenith of knowledge in the books, but he still feels half ignorant until he has confirmed each bright particular with his eyes. He wishes with his own eyes to see the female cuckoo—rare spectacle!—as she lays her egg on the ground and takes it in her bill to the nest in which it is destined to breed infanticide. He would sit day after day with a field-glass against his eyes in order personally to endorse or refute the evidence suggesting that the cuckoo does lay on the ground and not in a nest. And, if he is so far fortunate as to discover this most secretive of birds in the very act of laying, there still remain for him other fields to conquer in a multitude of such disputed questions as whether the cuckoo's egg is always of the same color as the other eggs in the nest in which she abandons it. Assuredly the men of science have no reason as yet to weep over their lost ignorance. If they seem to know everything, it is only because you and I know almost nothing. There will always be a fortune of ignorance waiting for them under every fact they turn up. They will never know what song the Sirens sang to Ulysses any more than Sir Thomas Browne did.

19. Which of the following best tells what this passage is about?

The habits of the cuckoo bird.

The differences between naturalists and townsmen.

The joy in learning new facts about nature.

How the advent of spring naturally induces curiosity in townsmen.

The difficulties naturalists must undergo for the sake of science.

20. According to the passage, why do so many people know nothing of nature?

The vast continent of their ignorance cannot be overcome.

Their powers of observation are not sufficient.

Modern cities don’t have very much in the way of nature.

Ignorance is bliss and they prefer not to know.

They don’t spend day after day observing animals in the field.

21. In line 21, the phrase “drew on his fancy” means

That small boys invariably argue over Chapman’s lines.

That Chapman was an illustrator as well.

That Chapman was ignorant of the habits of the cuckoo.

That Chapman’s lines about the cuckoo were based on his knowledge of nature.

That Chapman’s lines about the cuckoo could have merely fiction.

22. According to the passage as a whole, what crimes is the cuckoo conscious of (line 35)?

The crime of masquerading as a hawk.

The crime of descending on a hillside of fir trees.

The crime of hiding from naturalists.

The crime of laying eggs on the ground.

The crime of abandoning eggs in other birds’ nests.

23. The author would agree most with which of the following statements?

Ignorance is bliss, if only because it affords us new delights when we learn something new.

Ignorance is not bliss, and we should always seek out more knowledge.

Naturalists and scientists are not ignorant.

All townsmen know nothing about nature.

Everybody who lives in the country knows a lot about nature.

24. According to the passage, naturalists

Do not find pleasure in observing the life of birds because they are not ignorant of nature.

Will always have further discoveries to make.

Are all interested in the laying habits of the cuckoo.

Are prone to weeping over their lost ignorance.

Look down on those who can’t differentiate between an elm and a beech.

25. Passage for Questions 25-30

Between 1886 and commencement of the Eiffel Tower’s construction at the end of January 1887, there arose one of the most persistently annoying of the numerous difficulties, both structural and social, which confronted Eiffel as the project advanced. In the wake of the initial enthusiasm—on the part of the fair’s Commission inspired by the desire to create a monument to French technological achievement, and on the part of the majority of Frenchmen by the stirring of their imagination at the magnitude of the structure—there grew a rising movement of disfavor. The nucleus was, not surprisingly, formed mainly of the intelligentsia, but objections were made by prominent Frenchmen in all walks of life. The most interesting point to be noted in a retrospection of this often violent opposition was that, although the Tower’s every aspect was attacked, there was remarkably little criticism of its structural feasibility, either by the engineering profession or, as seems traditionally to be the case with bold and unprecedented undertakings, by large numbers of the technically uninformed laity. True, there was an undercurrent of what might be characterized as unease by many property owners in the structure’s shadow, but the most obstinate element of resistance was that which deplored the Tower as a mechanistic intrusion upon the architectural and natural beauties of Paris. This resistance voiced its fury in a flood of special newspaper editions, petitions, and manifestos signed by such lights of the fine and literary arts as De Maupassant, Gounod, Dumas fils, and others. The eloquence of one article, which appeared in several Paris papers in February 1887, was typical:

“We protest in the name of French taste and the national art culture against the erection of a staggering Tower, like a gigantic kitchen chimney dominating Paris, eclipsing by its barbarous mass Notre Dame, the Sainte-Chapelle, the tower of St. Jacques, the Dôme des Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, humiliating these monuments by an act of madness.”

Further, a prediction was made that the entire city would become dishonored by the odious shadow of the odious column of bolted sheet iron.

It is impossible to determine what influence these outcries might have had on the project had they been organized sooner. But inasmuch as the Commission had, in November 1886, provided 1,500,000 francs for its commencement, the work had been fairly launched by the time the protestations became loud enough to threaten and they were ineffectual.

Upon completion, many of the most vigorous protestants became as vigorous in their praise of the Tower, but a hard core of critics continued for several years to circulate petitions advocating its demolition by the government. One of these critics, it was said—probably apocryphally—took an office on the first platform, that being the only place in Paris from which the Tower could not be seen.

25. Which of the following best tells what the passage is about?

How the Eiffel Tower united the French against it.

How newspaper editions, petitions, and manifestos are ineffective in any construction project.

The protests against the construction of the Eiffel Tower.

The criticism leveled at the lack of functional aspects of the Eiffel Tower.

How the French hoped to impress the world with the construction of the Eiffel Tower.

26. Objections to the Eiffel Tower were raised by

The nucleus of academics only.

Prominent Frenchmen only.

The fair’s Commission.

Frenchmen in all walks of life.

The engineers who said such a structure would not be feasible.

27. According to the passage, what was the opposition’s main argument?

The Eiffel Tower would cost too much.

The height of Eiffel Tower would not have been impressive enough.

The Eiffel Tower did not fit in with the architectural styles of Paris at that time.

The Eiffel Tower would have cast too large a shadow on the property owners nearby.

The Eiffel Tower would have been structurally unsound.

28. In line 34, the author listed three different names in order to

Show the author’s admiration of these personages.

Tell the reader who wrote the excerpt presented in the text.

Give examples of some of the people who supported the Tower.

Give examples of some of the people who organized the resistance against the Tower.

Give examples of some of the established artists and writers were also against the Tower.

29. According to the passage, the fierce outcry against the Tower

Would have been effective had they gathered more eminent personages to their cause.

Would have been effective had they paid the Commission 1,500,000 francs.

Would have been effective had they been organized much sooner.

Took the form of special newspaper editions, petitions, and manifestos.

Were mostly technically uninformed laity.

30. What happened to the majority of critics after the completion of the Tower?

They took up offices on the first floor of the Tower so that they won’t have to see it.

They kept up their vigorous protests.

They became vigorous Protestants.

They continued to circulate petitions advocating its demolition.

They praised the Tower.