Entry Exam Category: College Admission Exams
Course: Accuplacer
Exam: Accuplacer Reading Diagnostic Practice Test
Practice Question
Extract
Passage
(1) Calling someone a rat may be complimentary (2) In one experiment, University of Chicago neuroscientist Peggy Mason placed 30 pairs of rats in pens. (3) One rat was caged in the middle of the pen, while the other was free to run around. (4) Eventually, 23 of 30 rats liberated their peers by pushing the cage door open with their heads or leaning against the door until it tipped over.
(5) In another experiment, Mason gave rats access to two cages: in one cage was another rat, in the other was a pile of chocolate chips. (6) The rats eating the chocolate themselves (7) Instead, most of the rodents opened both cages and shared the sweets (8) "In rat land, that is big." Mason says, claiming that this study is the first to show altruistic behavior in rodents.
(9) Not all scientists agree with the conclusion Mason drew from the experiment, however (10) The jailbreaking rats might have only been trying to silence their cohorts' distressing alarm calls (11) Mason counters that the alarm calls from the caged rats were not frequent enough to motivate their peers, but both parties are speculating at this point.
(12) Mason's new study is one of many that are changing how scientists think about empathy and altruism, namely that such characteristics are not limited to people, as they once thought. (13) It now seems that many animals have evolved instincts to help others.
(1) Calling someone a rat may be complimentary (2) In one experiment, University of Chicago neuroscientist Peggy Mason placed 30 pairs of rats in pens. (3) One rat was caged in the middle of the pen, while the other was free to run around. (4) Eventually, 23 of 30 rats liberated their peers by pushing the cage door open with their heads or leaning against the door until it tipped over.
(5) In another experiment, Mason gave rats access to two cages: in one cage was another rat, in the other was a pile of chocolate chips. (6) The rats eating the chocolate themselves (7) Instead, most of the rodents opened both cages and shared the sweets (8) "In rat land, that is big." Mason says, claiming that this study is the first to show altruistic behavior in rodents.
(9) Not all scientists agree with the conclusion Mason drew from the experiment, however (10) The jailbreaking rats might have only been trying to silence their cohorts' distressing alarm calls (11) Mason counters that the alarm calls from the caged rats were not frequent enough to motivate their peers, but both parties are speculating at this point.
(12) Mason's new study is one of many that are changing how scientists think about empathy and altruism, namely that such characteristics are not limited to people, as they once thought. (13) It now seems that many animals have evolved instincts to help others.
In context, adjusting capitalization as needed, which of the following would most appropriately be inserted at the beginning of sentence 10 (reproduced below)?
The jailbreaking rats might have only been trying to silence their cohorts' distressing alarm calls
It is true that:
The jailbreaking rats might have only been trying to silence their cohorts' distressing alarm calls
It is true that:
Answer Choices
- A: It is true that
- B: They point out that
- C: They claim it is obvious that
- D: It appears that
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: They point out that' fits the context of other scientists offering an alternative explanation.