Paragraph Comprehension

The American newspaper columnist Art Buchwald wrote humor columns--first for the European edition of the New York Herald Tribune in the 1950s and later for the Washington Post. Rather than the stinging wit of some of his contemporaries, Buchwald's style was kindly. Every once in a while, however, his patience with a politician, institution, or policy would wear thin, and his readers would see another, less avuncular side. Art Buchwald's newspaper column was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 1982. Over the course of his career he would write newspaper columns and publish humorous books for half a century. One can infer from the passage that Art Buchwald's writing, when he nearly lost his patience, was

Biting

Arthur C. Clarke was a science fiction writer whose work often predicted future technology. The first geostationary communications satellite was not launched until 1964; however, Clarke proposed its development back in 1945. His 1955 novel Earthlight described a weapon that used powerful electromagnets to send a stream of molten metal shooting through space. Early in the 21st Century, the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (DARPA) set to work on the Magneto Hydrodynamic Explosive Munition (MAHEM), a similar weapon that uses an explosion to create an electrical charge that is supposed to propel the metal. Clarke's 1965 story "Sunjammer" explored the idea of using solar wind for propulsion in outer space. Beginning in the 1970s, NASA began to look into the idea of a solar sail, and has been monitoring the progress of the necessary technologies ever since. Based on the information in the passage, which of the foll

Earthlight, "Sunjammer," NASA project, MAHEM

One of the most popular attractions at the Smithsonian Institution is the 45.52-carat Hope Diamond, the largest blue diamond in the world. Originally purchased in India and sold to King Louis XIV in 1668, the stone became part of the French Royal Treasury of crown jewels until it was turned over to the government in 1791 during the French Revolution, after Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette tried to leave France. The following year, the diamond was stolen; but in 1812 it resurfaced in London. It subsequently passed through various owners, including Henry Philip Hope, from whom the diamond takes its name, until it was acquired in 1911 by American heiress Evalyn Walsh McLean. After McLean's death, jeweler Harry Winston bought the diamond from her estate and donated it to the Smithsonian, where it is viewed by millions of visitors each year. ：7 Q According to the passage, what happened to the Hope Diamond immediately afte

It was turned over to the French government.

Honeybee stings, although briefly painful, are seldom life threatening. If stung, the first thing a person should do is remove the stinger. Doing so quickly can limit the severity of the pain, swelling, or itching common symptoms associated with a sting. When stung by a honeybee, many people panic, which exacerbates their reactions rather than minimizing them. Most people only experience local reactions to honeybee stings, with symptoms such as swelling occurring around the area of the sting. Others experience allergic reactions that can be severe, if not life-threatening. If pain and swelling are accompanied by shortness of breath, dizziness, or a rash, this may indicate an allergic reaction, and prompt medical attention is required. Not all honeybee stings require the attention of a doctor, but stings should always be addressed quickly and carefully. Which of the following best expresses the major emphasis of the p

Serious allergic reactions to honeybee stings are rare but require immediate treatment.

In 2010, Los Angeles, a huge city whose residents are dependent mainly on automobiles for transportation, boasted a state-of-the-art traffic control system. Sensors embedded in the city's roads sent data on millions of cars to a traffic control center that used this information to control the timing of traffic lights and thus improve traffic flow. This information was also placed on the Internet in real time, where the data informed local traffic reporters and commuters about the best routes to follow through the city. Although a massive amount of data was collected by these sophisticated sensors and computers, the information was purged every few days. The passage implies which of the following about the Los Angeles traffic control system in 2010?

The data collected were not being used for city planning purposes

One of a group of talented, and sometimes ruthless, entrepreneurs, Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish immigrant, worked his way up from modest beginnings to become one of the richest people in 19th century America. In 1873 he organized his own steel company in Pittsburg, and it soon dominated the industry. In 1901 he sold his holdings in the company for $480 million to banker J. P. Morgan. Carnegie believed that the wealthy are merely trustees of their money and are obligated to use their resources for the benefit of society. Convinced that the best way to improve the lives of others was to provide them with access to knowledge, Carnegie funded thousands of public libraries. By the time of his death in 1919, he had given away most of his fortune to support a variety of philanthropic causes. Which of the following phrases best characterizes the tone of this passage?

admiring of Carnegie for donating a large part of his wealth

International Falls, Minnesota, a city on the U.S. and Canadian border, earned the legal right to call itself the "Icebox of the Nation" after battling the ski town of Fraser, Colorado, for the title. After learning that Fraser had been using the slogan, which their own town had claimed since 1948, International Falls officials headed for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and successfully obtained a registration certificate. The legal victory is about more than simple bragging rights. International Falls uses the icebox moniker to market itself as the country's best location for cold-weather testing projects. The passage implies that the "Icebox of the Nation" slogan

brings both dollars and recognition to International Falls.

The following excerpt is from the science fiction novel War of the Worlds, written by H.G. Wells in 1898. No one gave a thought to the older worlds of space as sources of human danger, or thought of them only to dismiss the idea of life upon them as impossible or improbable. It is curious to recall some of the mental habits of those departed days. At most terrestrial men fancied there might be other men upon Mars, perhaps inferior to themselves and ready to welcome a missionary enterprise. Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us. And early in the twentieth century came the great disillusionment. Which word or phrase is used in the passage to describe extraterrestrial life, according to some humans who pondered its possibi

cool and unsympathetic

To make pancakes, take two eggs and break them, placing the egg whites in a small mixing bowl and the yolks in a large mixing bowl. Turn the mixer on high and beat the egg whites until they form peaks. Add one and one-half cups of buttermilk and two tablespoons of oil to the egg yolks. In a separate bowl, mix together two cups of flour, one-half teaspoon of salt, one-half teaspoon of baking soda, and one-quarter teaspoon of baking powder. Remove the small bowl from the mixer and replace it with the large bowl. Turn the mixer onto low speed. Once mixed, add the flour mixture. As soon as the flour mixture barely blends in with the egg yolk mixture, stop. The batter will look extremely lumpy. Take a large serving spoon and fold the stiff egg whites into the batter. This means the egg whites are added and gently "cut" and "turned over" into the mixture. There will be large globs of egg whites in the bowl along with the l

large bowl containing the egg whites.

Canada is politically complex. Like the United Kingdom, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Canada is a parliamentary democracy that is also a constitutional monarchy. In fact, the two countries share the same monarch. How does this work? The short answer is that there is a distinction made between running the government and being the head of state. The Canadian parliament and its prime minister, like the two houses of Congress and the president of the United States, respectively, run the government. It is they who make the laws and decide how revenues are spent. However, in the United States, the president acts as both the head of government and the head of state. In Canada, those roles are split between two different people. The monarch- either a king or queen-acts as the official head of state. This division of labor has the advantage of helping to make the head of state in Canada a non-political symbol of t

prime minister and monarch