39- ] Model SAT Tests
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Test Thirty Nine
The
questions that follow the next two passages relate to the content of both , and
to their relationship . The correct response may be stated outright in the
passage or merely suggested .
Questions
1 - 13 are based on the following passages .
Passage 1
The
following passages are excerpted from popular articles on dolphins , the first
dating from the 1960’s , the second written in 1990 .
Most of the intelligent land
animals have prehensile gasping organs for exploring their environment - hands
in human beings and their anthropoid relatives , the sensitive inquiring trunk
in the elephant is that his superior brain is unaccompanied by any type of manipulative
organ . He has , however , a remarkable range-finding ability involving some
sort of echo-sounding . Perhaps this acute sense - far more accurate
than any that human ingenuity has been able to devise artificially - brings him
greater knowledge of his watery surroundings than might at first seem possible
. Human beings think of intelligence as geared to things . The hand and the
tool are to us the unconscious symbols of our intellectual attainment . It is
difficult for us to visualize another kind of lonely , almost disembodied
intelligence floating in the wavering green fairyland of the sea an
intelligence possibly near or comparable to our own but without hands to build
, to transmit knowledge by writing , or to alter by one hairs-breath the
planet’s surface . Yet at the same time there are indications that this is a
warm , friendly , and eager intelligence quite capable of coming to the
assistance of injured companions and striving to rescue them from drowning.
Dolphins left the land when mammalian brains were still small and primitive .
Without the stimulus provided by agile exploring fingers , these great sea
mammals have yet taken a divergent road toward intelligence of a high order .
Hidden in their sleek bodies is an impressively elaborated instrument ,
the reason for whose appearance is a complete enigma. It is as though both the
human being and the dolphin were each part of some great eye which yearned to
look both outward on eternity and inward to the sea’s heart - that fertile
entity like the mind in its swarming and grotesque life .
Passage
2
Nothing
about dolphins has been more widely or passionately discussed over the
centuries than their supposed intelligence and communicative abilities . In
fact , a persistent dogma holds that dolphins are among the most intelligent of
animals and that they communicate with one another in complex ways . Implicit
in this argument is the belief that dolphin cultures are at least as ancient
and rich as our own . To support the claim of high intelligence amongst
dolphins , proponents note that they have large brains , live in societies marked
as much by co-operative as by competitive interactions and rapidly learn the
artificial tasks given to them in captivity . Indeed , dolphins are clearly
capable of learning through observation and have good memories . People who
spend time with captive dolphins are invariably impressed by their sense of
humor , playfulness , quick comprehension of body language , command of
situations , mental agility , and emotional resilience . Individual dolphins
have distinctive personalities and trainers often speak of being trained by
their subjects , rather than the other way round .
The extremely varied repertoires of
sounds made by dolphins are often invoked as
prima facie evidence of advanced communication abilities . In
addition , some “scientific” experiments done by John Lilly and his
associates during the 1950s and 1960s were claimed to show that dolphins
communicate not only with one another but also with humans , mimicking human
speech and reaching out across the boundaries that divide us .
These conclusions about dolphin
intelligence and communication have not withstood critical scrutiny . While
they have fueled romantic speculation , then net impact has been to mislead .
Rather than allowing dolphins to be discovered and appreciated for what they
are . Lilly’s vision has forced us to measure these animals’ value according to
how close they come to equaling or exceeding our own intelligence , virtue ,
and spiritual development .
The issues of dolphin intelligence
and communication have been inseparable in most people’s minds , and the
presumed existence of one has been taken as proof of the other , a classic case
of begging the question . Not surprisingly then , most experiments to evaluate
dolphin intelligence have measured the animals’ capacity for cognitive
processing as exhibited in their understanding of the rudiments of language .
From the early work of researchers
like Dwight Batteau and Jarvis Bastian through the more recent work of Louis
Herman and associates , dolphins have been asked to accept simple information ,
in the form of acoustic or visual symbols representing verbs and nouns ,and
then to act on the information following a set of commands from the
experimenter .
The widely publicized results have
been somewhat disappointing . Although they have demonstrated that dolphins do
have the primary skills necessary to support understanding and use of a
language , they have not distinguished the dolphins from other animals in this
respect . For example , some seals , animals we do not normally cite as members
of the intellectual or communicative elite , have been found to have the same
basic capabilities .
What , then , do the results of
experiments to fate mean ? Either we have not devised adequate tests to permit
us to detect, measure, and rank intelligence as a measure of a given species’
ability to communicate , or we must acknowledge that the characteristics that
we regard as rudimentary evidence of intelligence are held more commonly by
many “lower” animals than we previously thought .
1.
According to Passage 1 , which of the following statements about dolphins is
true ?
(A)
They have always been water dwelling creatures .
(B)
They at one time possessed prehensile organs .
(C)
They lived on land in prehistoric times .
(D)
Their brains are no longer mammalian in nature .
(E)
They developed brains to compensate for the lack of a prehensile organ .
2
. The author of Passage 1 suggests that human failure to understand the
intelligence of the dolphin is due to
(A)
the inadequacy of human range -finding equipment
(B)
a lack of knowledge about the sea
(C)
the want of a common language
(D)
the primitive origins of the human brain
(E)
the human inclination to judge other life by our own
3.
In Passage 1 , the author’s primary purpose is apparently to
(A)
examine the dolphin’s potential for surpassing humankind
(B)
question the need for prehensile organs in human development
(C)
refute the theory that dolphins are unable to alter their physical environment
(D)
reassess the nature and extent of dolphin intelligence
(E)
indicate the superiority of human intelligence over that of the dolphin
4
. The underlined word “acute” in paragraph one , Passage 1 means
(A)
excruciating (B) severe (C) keen (D) sudden and intense (E) brief in duration
5
. The underlined “impressively elaborated instrument” referred to in Passage 1
is best interpreted to mean which of the following ?
(A)
A concealed manipulative organ
(B)
An artificial range-finding device
(C)
A complex , intelligent brain
(D)
The dolphin’s hidden eye
(E)
An apparatus for producing musical sounds
6
. According to the author’s simile at the end of Passage 1 the human mind and the heart of the sea are
alike in the both
(A)
teem with exotic forms of life
(B)
argue in support of intelligence
(C)
are necessary to the evolution of dolphins
(D)
are directed outward
(E)
share a penchant for the grotesque
7
. Which of the following best characterizes the tone of Passage 1 ?
(A)
Restrained skepticism
(B)
Pedantic assertion
(C)
Wondering admiration
(D)
Amused condensation
(E)
Ironic speculation
8
. The author of Passage 2 puts quotation marks around the word “scientific” in
paragraph two to indicate he
(A)
is faithfully reproducing Lilly’s own words
(B)
intends to define the word later in the passage
(C)
believes the reader is unfamiliar with the word as used by Lilly
(D)
advocates adhering to the scientific method in all experiments
(E)
has some doubts as to how scientific those experiments were
9
. The author of Passage 2 maintains that the writings of Lilly and his
associates have
(A)
overstated the extent of dolphin intelligence
(B)
been inadequately scrutinized by critics
(C)
measured the worth of the dolphin family
(D)
underrated dolphins as intelligent beings
(E) established criteria foe evaluating
dolphin intelligence
10
. By calling the argument summarized in the beginning of paragraph three
Passage 2 a classic case of begging the question , the author of Passage 2
indicates he views the argument with
(A)
trepidation (B) optimism (C) detachment (D) skepticism (E) credulity
11
. Which of the following would most undercut the studies on which the author
bases his conclusion in the last paragraph of Passage 2 ?
(A)
Evidence proving dolphin linguistic abilities to be far superior to those of
other mammals
(B)
An article recording attempts by seals and walruses to communicate with human
beings
(C)
The reorganization of current intelligence tests by species and level of
difficulty
(D)
A reassessment f the definition of the term “lower animals”
(E)
The establishment of a project to develop new tests to detect intelligence in
animals
12
. The author of Passage 2 would find Passage 2 would find Passage 1
(A)
typical of the attitudes of Lilly and his associates
(B)
remarkable for the perspective it offers
(C)
indicative of the richness of dolphin culture
(D)
supportive of his fundamental point of view
(E)
intriguing for its far-reaching conclusions
13
. Compared to Passage 2 , Passage 1 is
(A)
more figurative
(B)
less obscure
(C)
more objective
(D)
more current
(E) less speculative
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