Entry Exam Category: College Admission Exams
Course: Texas Success Initiative Assessment 2.0
Exam: TSIA2 Reading and Writing Practice Test 2
Practice Question
Extract
Read the passage below and then choose the best answer to each question. Answer the questions on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.
Passage
Passage 1
Twice I've partaken of that cuisine known as "molecular gastronomy," and twice I've been unimpressed. First, at a county fair, I tried frozen "dots" of ice cream that had been formed into tiny pellets through a process of flash-freezing them in liquid nitrogen. The verdict? I would have preferred a traditional ice cream cone. At the other end of the dining spectrum, I "enjoyed" a high-end restaurant meal of a salad reprocessed entirely into a bowl of foam and an entrée of prime rib and baked potato repurposed into packing peanuts to be nibbled at by hand. My dessert was no more than a clear sphere that burst in my mouth into the "essence" of chocolate cake. The essence of chocolate cake! Some words I'd use to describe that meal include "creative" and "unique." Words I wouldn't use? "Filling" and "worth every cent."
Passage 2
Each year, designers around the world unveil clothing lines that are fantastical, grandiose, and, sometimes, utterly unwearable. Many of the designs are less fashion than art. The same is true in molecular gastronomy, the modern cooking technique of using chemistry to prepare food in new ways. Traditional dishes are transformed into jellies and foams; they are frozen with liquid nitrogen, shaped and formed through the use of lasers, and soaked in chemical baths. The end result is downright otherworldly: an egg served with the yolk on the outside, a decorative football helmet made entirely of crab cakes, a dessert of chocolate cake served as a clear ball! Molecular gastronomy does have its detractors, who claim the cuisine is more art than food, but such complaints can't be surprising. As high fashion isn't for everyone, neither is haute cuisine.
Passage
Passage 1
Twice I've partaken of that cuisine known as "molecular gastronomy," and twice I've been unimpressed. First, at a county fair, I tried frozen "dots" of ice cream that had been formed into tiny pellets through a process of flash-freezing them in liquid nitrogen. The verdict? I would have preferred a traditional ice cream cone. At the other end of the dining spectrum, I "enjoyed" a high-end restaurant meal of a salad reprocessed entirely into a bowl of foam and an entrée of prime rib and baked potato repurposed into packing peanuts to be nibbled at by hand. My dessert was no more than a clear sphere that burst in my mouth into the "essence" of chocolate cake. The essence of chocolate cake! Some words I'd use to describe that meal include "creative" and "unique." Words I wouldn't use? "Filling" and "worth every cent."
Passage 2
Each year, designers around the world unveil clothing lines that are fantastical, grandiose, and, sometimes, utterly unwearable. Many of the designs are less fashion than art. The same is true in molecular gastronomy, the modern cooking technique of using chemistry to prepare food in new ways. Traditional dishes are transformed into jellies and foams; they are frozen with liquid nitrogen, shaped and formed through the use of lasers, and soaked in chemical baths. The end result is downright otherworldly: an egg served with the yolk on the outside, a decorative football helmet made entirely of crab cakes, a dessert of chocolate cake served as a clear ball! Molecular gastronomy does have its detractors, who claim the cuisine is more art than food, but such complaints can't be surprising. As high fashion isn't for everyone, neither is haute cuisine.
The author of Passage 1 would most likely characterize the claim of the "detractors" mentioned in Passage 2 as
Answer Choices
- A: an unfair accusation
- B: a flattering portrayal
- C: an accurate description
- D: a flawed argument
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Passage 2's detractors say molecular gastronomy is "more art than food". Passage 1's author, who found the meals unimpressive, unfilling, and not worth the cost, clearly agrees with this characterization.