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Which of the following findings would most weaken the author's explanation of the observed effects of class-size reductions?

A. Class-size reductions in the early grades are effective regardless of whether the teachers use methods well suited to small classes. The answer is A, because the author's explanation for improved performance in small classes rests on the fact that "some teachers, who already use methods well suited to smaller classes, do very well when they are actually given small classes." If, however, early grades showed improvements in student performance in smaller classes regardless of teaching techniques, then this would clearly weaken the author's explanation for the effects of class-size reductions.

Which of the following passage assertions suggests most strongly that the author is critical of capitalist society?

A. Freedom to consume is equated with freedom itself. This statement is made to explain, in a capitalist society, the constant production and consumption of images ("The narrowing of free political choice to free economic consumption [that] requires the constant production and consumption of images" in paragraph 4.) Because the author contends that this increasing supply of images is what leads to the 'disease' of a depleted real world (paragraph 5) and our inability to distinguish between images and real objects (paragraph 6), it does suggest that the author is critical of capitalist society. Freedom or liberty, by definition, entails much more than the right to purchase commodities.

After the Napoleonic Wars, the Portuguese people demanded democratic reforms, including major restrictions on the power of monarchs. Together with information in the passage, this fact most clearly indicates that:

A. John had good reason to fear that new ideas from abroad would undermine monarchial power. The passage describes John's repressive reaction after the French king Louis XVI was deposed by a popular uprising in 1792: "the future John VI turned with fury on the liberals of Portugal" (final paragraph). So, if the Portuguese people "demanded . . .major restrictions" on monarchical power after the Napoleonic Wars, this certainly suggests that John's earlier fears that the power of the throne could be undermined by "new ideas from abroad" had some rational basis.

The author's primary purpose is to

A. argue for the value of architectural paint research. because the passage describes the valuable information that can be gained by doing this kind of research, including insight into the "development and use of a building, long after" its structural work is finished.

Which of the following groups played a role in conserving the older social, religious, and political order in Portugal?

C. I and III only Commoners and peasants are referred to as "other guardians of the past" (paragraph 2); therefore, proposition I is correct.

Based on the passage, during the 1919 strike, which aspect of acting were actors able to make use of that was NOT available to most other industrial workers?

B. Their role as commodities The answer is B, because the author writes that, in the 1919 strike, actors (or "the denizens of the U.S. stage") were "able to exploit their commodity status" (paragraph 2). The author explains that consumer culture functioned to obscure the labor that goes into making a commodity available for purchase or consumption. Actors were different from other industrial workers because their labor is what the audience also consumes, and the author maintains that in the strike of 1919, the actors were able to take advantage of their unusual position as both the producers of theater and as what is consumed by the audience.

Based on passage information, one can infer that implementing the author's program for conservation (final paragraph) would most likely include suggestions for:

B. discouraging the use of photography in magazine advertisements. B is the answer, because it suggests "discouraging the use of photography," and not only that, discouraging its use in advertising, which, unlike architectural models, is emphasized in the passage. That said, it's not the use of photographic images per se that is the problem, according to the passage, but the production of new images; if advertising used the same images, if it didn't constantly replace images (paragraph 5), the problem described by the author would be lessened.

Which of the following statements best explains Ewen's use of the phrase "obliteration of the factory," as it is used in the passage?

C. Industrial jobs were hidden from public view. the author explains that Ewen talks about the "obliteration of the factory" to describe the division of the economic world into "an unpleasant sphere where goods were produced and a gratifying sphere where they were consumed" (paragraph 2). This suggests that the "obliteration" is meant to make the production side of the consumer economy invisible, so that it the gratification of consumption seems to come without the messy realities of industrial labor. The author also explains that theatrical performance is unusual because the labor side of the equation cannot actually be hidden, as it is "embodied by the performer." As the author opposes theatrical labor to other kinds of labor, it is clear that he suggests that industrial jobs can be hidden.

Suppose an artist created an exhibition consisting entirely of tastefully arranged collages of mug shots and fingerprints. This exemplifies the passage assertion that:

C. any photograph, regardless of intention, may be viewed as art. The answer is C because the scenario in the question talks about items that are intended to identify people as part of the criminal justice system, and these photographs are now being used as part of an art exhibit. Thus, this exemplifies the passage claim that "any photograph, regardless of intention, may be viewed as art."

In the passage, the author explains that his focus is different from that of most historians because he

C. deals with the economic realities of the theater the author writes in the first paragraph that "Most often, historians have allowed the dreams that actors weave to take precedence over the process of weaving." He then goes on to distinguish his own perspective from that of "most" historians, writing, "However, actors' dealings with their employers, like those of many other laborers, were fraught with tension." The rest of the paragraph talks about the economic circumstances confronted by actors and puts that in the context of the economic conditions in the culture industry more broadly. The author's concern with the "economic realities" of actors' lives is part of what makes his work different from that of other historians, according to the passage.

The author's main purpose in exploring the aesthetic and the instrumental approaches to photography is to suggest that a new form of conservation must:

C. solve the problem of the continual proliferation of images. The author postulates that the increasing supply of photographic images is a problem because it "can overwhelm and threaten to obliterate reality" (final paragraph). It threatens reality because these images do not actually depict "reality"; they are framed and positioned versions made by the picture-taker and reproduced by some form of media. According to the passage author, these second-hand, mediated images confront individuals in modern technological society, outnumbering and drowning out direct perceptions. "The remedy lies in a new form of conservation" (paragraph 6) that would reduce the number of artificial images and restore balance between what is actually seen with the naked eye and what is staged or manufactured by means of technology. Option C is the best answer.

The author claims that actors were locked into an unequal relationship with the businessmen who controlled the U.S. theater in the early twentieth century. Which of the following statements by the author provides the strongest support for this claim?

D. Combination companies allowed theater managers to "book several weeks of a touring company's business in a single transaction." this option describes a situation in which theater managers controlled a large number of the opportunities for employment, giving the actors much less leverage to negotiate (for higher salaries, better working conditions, etc). A

Based on the description of performance in the second paragraph of the passage, which of the following occupations is most analogous to professional acting?

D. Massage therapist the passage describes performance as "unusual in that it is a labor process both exhibited before and consumed by an audience. The . . . actor both produces the commodity and embodies it." This is most analogous to a massage therapist, who physically and visibly produces the commodity (the massage) for the consumer.

The observation that some teachers use techniques that work best in small classes (paragraph 4) is used to support which of the following assertions from the passage?

D. When class sizes are reduced, the improved performance of teachers who already use methods well suited to smaller classes pulls up the average achievement level. The assertion cited in the question is that early elementary grade teachers are most likely to use techniques that are most successful in smaller classes. The paragraph in which the assertion appears begins by arguing that teachers who already use techniques "well suited to smaller classes" do especially well when they actually have smaller classes, thus improving the average performance in smaller classes. The rest of the paragraph, including the assertion cited in the question, is meant to explain and support this argument, so the answer is D.

The single change to the observed ritual at Mariani that would most weaken the author's distinction between Mariani and Nansoucri voodoo would be a situation in which:

D. one or more audience members became possessed. The answer is D, because the author's distinction between the two voodoo forms turns on the fact that the Mariani session is a "theatrical" session, in which the audience essentially watches the action from a "distance . . . that disallows real transformation (inadvertent possession)" (paragraph 3). Thus, if audience members at Mariani did indeed become possessed, the author's distinction between Mariani voodoo and the more participatory, ritual form of voodoo at Nansoucri would break down.

Consider that some groups are defined as "cults"; members of these extremist sects generally live communally and obey an authoritarian, charismatic leader. Assume that all cults have fewer than 100 members. This information would tend to weaken the passage's assertions about the:

D. reasonableness of small groups compared to large groups. presents information that is beyond the scope of the passage and then asks you to consider how this information would affect passage claims. The answer is D, because the question describes a small group in which people "obey an authoritarian, charismatic leader." In the passage, however, the author claims that a "great multitude" is more likely to succumb to "unreflective enthusiasm . . . than is a small meeting" (paragraph 2). So if the cults that the question describes are small groups of fewer than 100 members, this would weaken passage claims about the more considered behavior of small groups when compared to larger ones.