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## text1 Dominique Potvin and colleagues captured five Australian magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen) to test a new design for attaching tracking devices to birds. As the researchers fitted each magpie with a tracker attached by a small harness, they noticed some magpies without trackers pecking at another magpie's tracker until it broke off. The researchers suggest that this behavior could be evidence of magpies attempting to help another magpie without benefiting themselves. ### Text 2 It can be tempting to think that animals are deliberately providing help when we see them removing trackers and other equipment from one another, especially when a species is known to exhibit other cooperative behaviors. At the same time, it can be difficult to exclude the possibility that individuals are simply interested in the equipment because of its novelty, curiously pawing or pecking at it until it detaches. Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the researchers' perspective in Text 1 on the behavior of the magpies without trackers?

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Text 1: Conventional wisdom long held that human social systems evolved in stages, beginning with hunter-gatherers forming small bands of members with roughly equal status. The shift to agriculture about 12,000 years ago sparked population growth that led to the emergence of groups with hierarchical structures: associations of clans first, then chiefoms, and finally, bureaucratic states. Text 2: In a 2021 book, anthropologist David Graeber and archaeologist David Wengrow maintain that humans have always been socially flexible, alternately forming systems based on hierarchy and collective ones with decentralized leadership. The authors point to evidence that as far back as 50,000 years ago some hunter-gatherers adjusted their social structures seasonally, at times dispersing in small groups but also assembling into communities that included esteemed individuals. Based on the texts, how would Graeber and Wengrow (Text 2) most likely respond to the "conventional wisdom" presented in Text 1?

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## Text 1 In 2007, a team led by Alice Storey analyzed a chicken bone found in El Arenal, Chile, dating it to 1321-1407 CE--over a century before Europeans invaded the region, bringing their own chickens. Storey also found that the El Arenal chicken shared a unique genetic mutation with the ancient chicken breeds of the Polynesian Islands in the Pacific. Thus, Polynesian peoples, not later Europeans, probably, first introduced chickens to South America. ## Text 2 An Australian research team weakened the case for a Polynesian origin for the El Arenal chicken by confirming that the mutation identified by Storey has occurred in breeds from around the world. More recently, though, a team led by Agusto Luzuriaga-Neira found that South American chicken breeds and Polynesian breeds share other genetic markers that European breeds lack. Thus, the preponderance of evidence now favors a Polynesian origin. Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the underlined claim in Text 1?

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## Text 1 In a study of the benefits of having free time, Marissa Sharif found that the reported sense of life satisfaction tended to plateau when participants had two hours of free time per day and actually began to fall when they had five hours of free time per day. After further research, Sharif concluded that this dip in life satisfaction mainly occurred when individuals spent all their free time unproductively, such as by watching TV or playing games. ### Text 2 Psychologist James Maddux cautions against suggesting an ideal amount of free time. The human desire for both free time and productivity is universal, but Maddux asserts that individuals have unique needs for life satisfaction. Furthermore, he points out that there is no objective definition for what constitutes productivity; reading a book might be considered a productive activity by some, but ideness by others. Based on the texts, how would Maddux (Text 2) most likely respond to the conclusion Sharif (Text 1) reached after her further research?

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## Text 1 Microbes are tiny organisms in the soil, water, and air all around us. They thrive even in very harsh conditions. That's why Noah Fierer and colleagues were surprised when soil samples they collected from an extremely cold, dry area in Antarctica didn't seem to contain any life. The finding doesn't prove that there are no microbes in that area, but the team says it does suggest that the environment severely restricts microbes' survival. ### Text 2 Microbes are found in virtually every environment on Earth. So it's unlikely they would be completely absent from Fierer's team's study site, no matter how extreme the environment is. There were probably so few organisms in the samples that current technology couldn't detect them. But since a spoonful of typical soil elsewhere might contain billions of microbes, the presence of so few in the Antarctic soil samples would show how challenging the conditions are. Based on the texts, Fierer's team and the author of Text 2 would most likely agree with which statement about microbes?

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Artist Marilyn Dingle's intricate, coiled baskets are sweetgrass and palmetto palm. Following a Gullah technique that originated in West Africa, Dingle skillfully winds a thin palm frond around a bunch of sweetgrass with the help of a "sewing bone" to create the basket's signature look that no factory can reproduce. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

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The following text is adapted from Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1837 story "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment." The main character, a physician, is experimenting with rehydrating a dried flower. At first [the rose] lay lightly on the surface of the fluid, appearing to imbibe none of its moisture. Soon, however, a singular change began to be visible. The crushed and dried petals stirred and assumed a deepening tinge of crimson, as if the flower were reviving from a deathlike slumber. As used in the text, what does the phrase "a singular" most nearly mean?

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Rejecting the premise that the literary magazine Ebony and Topaz (1927) should present a unified vision of Black American identity, editor Charles S. Johnson fostered his contributors' diverse perspectives by promoting their authorial autonomy. Johnson's self-effacement diverged from the editorial stances of W.E.B. Du Bois and Alain Locke, whose decisions for their publications were more . Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

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"How lifelike are they?" Many computer animators prioritize this question as they strive to create ever more realistic environments and lighting. Generally, while characters in computer-animated films appear highly exaggerated, environments and lighting are carefully engineered to mimic reality. But some animators, such as Pixar's Sanjay Patel, are focused on a different question. Rather than asking first whether the environments and lighting they're creating are convincingly lifelike, Patel and others are asking whether these elements reflect their films' unique stories. Which choice best describes the function of the underlined question in the text as a whole?

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The field of study called affective neuroscience seeks instinctive, physiological causes for feelings such as pleasure or displeasure. Because these sensations are linked to a chemical component (for example, the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain when one receives or expects a reward), they can be said to have a partly physiological basis. These processes have been described in mammals, but Jingnan Huang and his colleagues have recently observed that some behaviors of honeybees (such as foraging) are also motivated by a dopamine-based signaling process. What choice best describes the main purpose of the text?

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Some economic historians that late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century households in the United States experienced an economy of scale when it came to food purchases--they assumed that large households spent less on food per person than did small households. Economist Trevon Logan showed, however, that a close look at the available data disproves this supposition. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

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The artisans of the Igun Eronmwon guild in Benin City, Nigeria, typically the bronze- and brass-casting techniques that have been passed down through their families since the thirteenth century, but they don't strictly observe every tradition; for example, guild members now use air-conditioning motors instead of handheld bellows to help heat their forges. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

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As an undergraduate researcher in anthropology, Jennifer C. Chen contributed to a groundbreaking study challenging the accepted view that among prehistoric peoples, female participation in hunting was . The research team's review of data from late Pleistocene and early Holocene burials in the Americas revealed that, in fact, as many as half of the hunters in those populations were female. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

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Diego Velazquez was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV of Spain during the seventeenth century, but his influence was hardly Spain: realist and impressionist painters around the world employed his techniques and echoed elements of his style. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

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#### Text 1 Polar bears sustain themselves primarily by hunting seals on the Arctic sea ice, but rising ocean temperatures are causing the ice to diminish, raising concerns about polar bear population declines as these large predators' seal-hunting habitats continue to shrink. A 2020 study examining polar bear populations across the Arctic concluded that populations affected by sea-ice loss are at great risk of extinction by the end of the twenty-first century. Text 2 Monitoring carried out by researchers from the Norwegian Polar Institute shows that the polar bear population on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard remains stable and well nourished despite rapidly declining sea ice in recent years. The researchers attribute this population's resilience in part to a shift in feeding strategies: in addition to hunting seals, the Svalbard polar bears have begun relying on a diet of reindeer meat and birds' eggs. Based on the texts, how would the researchers in Text 2 most likely respond to the conclusion presented in the underlined portion of Text 1?

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The 1967 release of Harold Cruse's book The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual isolated him from almost all other scholars and activists of the American Civil Rights Movement--though many of those thinkers disagreed with each other, he nonetheless found ways to disagree with them all. He thought that activists who believed that Black people such as himself should culturally assimilate were naive. But he also sharply criticized Black nationalists such as Marcus Garvey, who wanted to establish independent, self-contained Black economies and societies, even though Cruse himself identified as a Black nationalist. Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

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### Text 1 A team led by Bernardo Strassburg has found that rewilding farmland (returning the land to its natural state) could help preserve biodiversity and offset carbon emissions. The amount of farmland that would need to be restored, they found, is remarkably low. Rewilding a mere 15% of the world's current farmland would prevent 60% of expected species extinctions and help absorb nearly 299 gigatons of carbon dioxide--a clear win in the fight against the biodiversity and climate crises. ### Text 2 While Strassburg's team's findings certainly offer encouraging insight into the potential benefits of rewilding, it's important to consider potential effects on global food supplies. The researchers suggest that to compensate for the loss of food-producing land, remaining farmland would need to produce even more food. Thus, policies focused on rewilding farmland must also address strategies for higher-yield farming. Which choice best describes a difference in how the author of Text 1 and the author of Text 2 view Strassburg's team's study?

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Researchers and conservationists stress that biodiversity loss due to invasive species is . For example, people can take simple steps such as washing their footwear after travel to avoid introducing potentially invasive organisms into new environments. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

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The province of Xoconochco was situated on the Pacific coast, hundreds of kilometers southeast of Tenochtitan, the capital of the Aztec Empire. Because Xoconochco's location within the empire was so , cacao and other trade goods produced there could reach the capital only after a long overland journey. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

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Within baleen whale species, some individuals develop an accessory spleen--a seemingly functionless formation of splenic tissue outside the normal spleen. Given the formation's greater prevalence among whales known to make deeper dives, some researchers hypothesize that its role isn't , rather, the accessory spleen may actively support diving mechanisms. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

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The author's claim about the relationship between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens is , as it fails to account for several recent archaeological discoveries. To be convincing, his argument would need to address recent finds of additional hominid fossils, such as the latest Denisovan specimens and Homo longi. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

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In the 1960s, Sam Gilliam, a Black painter from the southern United States, became the first artist to drape painted canvases into flowing shapes. He later explored a different style, -- quilt-like paintings inspired by the patchwork, quilting tradition of Black communities in the South. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

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Many archaeologists assume that large-scale engineering projects in ancient societies required an elite class to plan and direct the necessary labor. However, recent discoveries, such as the excavation of an ancient canal near the Gulf Coast of Alabama, have complicated this picture. Using radiocarbon dating, a team of researchers concluded that the 1.39-kilometer-long canal was most likely constructed between 576 and 650 CE by an Indigenous society that was relatively free of social classes. Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

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Michelene Pesantubbee, a historian and citizen of the Choctaw Nation, has identified a dilemma inherent to research on the status of women in her tribe during the 1600s and 1700s: the primary sources from that era, travel narratives and other accounts by male European colonizers, underestimate the degree of power conferred on Choctaw women by their traditional roles in political, civic, and ceremonial life. Pesantubbee argues that the Choctaw oral tradition and findings from archaeological sites in the tribe's homeland supplement the written record by providing crucial insights into those roles. Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

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The mimosa tree evolved in East Asia, where the beetle Bruchidius terrenus preys on its seeds. In 1785, mimosa trees were introduced to North America, far from any B. terrenus. But evolutionary links between predators and their prey can persist across centuries and continents. Around 2001, B. terrenus was introduced in southeastern North America near where botanist Shu-Mei Chang and colleagues had been monitoring mimosa trees. Within a year, 93 percent of the trees had been attacked by the beetles. Which choice best describes the function of the third sentence in the overall structure of the text?

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