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Writing and Language Test
3 5 M i n u t e s , 4 4 Q ue s t i o n s

Turn to Section 2 of your answer sheet to answer the questions in this section.

DIRECTIONS

Each passage below is accompanied by a number of questions. For some questions, you will
consider how the passage might be revised to improve the expression of ideas. For other ques-
tions, you will consider how the passage might be edited to correct errors in sentence structure,
usage, or punctuation. A passage or a question may be accompanied by one or more graphics
(such as a table or graph) that you will consider as you make revising and editing decisions.

Some questions will direct you to an underlined portion of a passage. Other questions will direct
you to a location in a passage or ask you to think about the passage as a whole.

After reading each passage, choose the answer to each question that most effectively improves
the quality of writing in the passage or that makes the passage conform to the conventions of
Standard Written English. Many questions include a “NO CHANGE” option. Choose that option
if you think the best choice is to leave the relevant portion of the passage as it is.

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Questions 1–11 are based on the following 1
passage and supplementary material.
A) NO CHANGE
B) is
Physician Assistants
C) has been
As the American population grows, ages, and D) would be
gains better access to affordable health insurance, the

demand for primary medical services 1 are expected 2

to skyrocket. As a result, the United States Department A) NO CHANGE

of Health and Human Services projects a shortage B) interest

C) incentivize
of about 20,000 primary care physicians by 2020.
D) expect
Therefore, an important challenge facing the healthcare

industry is how to address this shortfall without sacri-

3
ficing quality of care. One possible solution is to A) NO CHANGE
2 elevate more medical school graduates to choose B) to choose the more lucrative specialties
C) the more lucrative specialties
primary care as their field instead of 3 their ­choosing
D) the more lucrative specialties they might
the more lucrative specialties like surgery and choose
dermatology.

PAs (PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS) IN THE U.S.

Total Primary Care

90,000 90%
Percentage of PAs in Primary Care

80,000 80%
70,000 70%
Number of PAs

60,000 60%
51%
50,000 50%
40,000 40%
31%
30,000 30%
20,000 20%
10,000 10%

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Source: American Academy of PAs, American Medical News, September 27, 2011

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[1] Another option is to incorporate more medical 4
professionals like physician assistants (PAs) and nurse A) NO CHANGE

practitioners (NPs) into primary care teams. [2] They B) performing technical procedures
C) technical procedures
can talk with patients about treatment options, pre-
D) to perform technical procedures
scribe medications, and even 4 perform technical
5
procedures like bone marrow aspirations. [3] Many
A) NO CHANGE
healthcare providers are moving toward this “team-
B) whereby
based” model, 5 where physicians can better focus on C) by this
their specialties while relying on trained professionals D) when

to provide other necessary services. [4] Team-based 6

medicine allows medical practitioners to best utilize A) NO CHANGE
B) while at the same time
their particular skills, 6 still sharing the successes
C) while
and struggles of the team. [5] If organized around the
D) although
principles of professionalism, trust, communication,
7
and accountability, these teams may be able to provide
The author is considering inserting the following
better care to patients at less cost. 7 sentence into this paragraph.

For all the promise of team-based primary medi- Although they receive less training than
physicians do, these professionals have
cine, it cannot work without an adequate supply of advanced degrees and can provide direct
treatment to patients.
well-trained health professionals. Although the total
Where should it be placed?
number of PAs in the United States more than doubled
A) After sentence 1
between 2000 and 2010, 8 the number of PAs going B) After sentence 3
into primary care has decreased by 20% over that C) After sentence 4

same time period. In the years ahead, we must D) After sentence 5

encourage more of these new PAs to choose careers in 8

primary care. Which choice is best supported by the data in the graph?
A) NO CHANGE
B) the number of PAs going into primary care has
increased by only 50%
C) more PAs have gone into dermatology than into
primary care
D) the fraction of those PAs going into primary care
has declined from over one-half to under one-third

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Undergraduate students considering a career in 9
medicine have many more options 9 than they did A) NO CHANGE

just a generation ago. Graduate PA and NP programs, B) than

C) than it was
which take about three years, are becoming increas-
D) to choose from than
ingly attractive, especially 10 being that MD programs,

including residency, lasting seven to ten years and often

10
leave students saddled with tens of thousands of dollars A) NO CHANGE
in debt. B) when MD programs, including residence, are
lasting
Anyone thinking about pursuing a PA or NP degree
C) being that MD programs last, including
should keep in mind that these programs aren’t cheap, residency,
D) because MD programs, including residency,
either, and that most states impose strict limits on the
can last
kinds of treatment 11 they can provide.

11
A) NO CHANGE
B) he or she
C) these professions
D) these professionals

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Questions 12–22 are based on the following 12
passage.
A) NO CHANGE
B) Chiaraville, Italy. Montessori showed a strong
Maria Montessori independent will, even
What is education? Is it a program of institutionally C) Chiaraville, Italy, Montessori showed a strong,
independent will, even
approved performances, or a collection of self-directed
D) Chiaraville, Italy; Montessori showed a strong,
experiences? Such questions absorbed Maria Montessori independent will even

throughout her life. Born in 1870 in 12 Chiaravalle Italy,

Montessori showed a strong independent will even as a 13

A) NO CHANGE
child. As a teenager, she told her parents that she wanted
B) despite its reputation for being unladylike
to study engineering, 13 a position that was widely
C) although widely considered unladylike
thought unladylike. By the age of 20, she had changed D) which was unladylike in reputation
her mind and decided to pursue an even less traditional

path: medicine. Despite suffering ridicule and isolation, 14

14 Montessori’s medical studies at the University of A) NO CHANGE

B) Montessori completed her medical studies at
Rome were completed and she became one of the first
the University of Rome by becoming
female physicians in Italy. C) Montessori’s medical studies were completed,
at the University of Rome, and thus she became
Although Montessori’s practice focused on psychi-
D) Montessori completed her medical studies at
atry, her interests gravitated toward education. In 1900, the University of Rome and became
she was appointed co-director of the Scuola Magistrale

Ortofrenica, a training institute for special education 15

teachers. Montessori believed that, in order for so- A) NO CHANGE

B) receiving regimentation in institutions
called “deficient” children to thrive, they needed respect
C) the regimented institutions they were receiving
and stimulation rather than 15 the regimentation D) the regimentation of the institutions they were
they were receiving in institutions. receiving

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In 1907 Maria opened the Casa dei Bambini, or 16
“Children’s House,” a daycare center for impoverished A) NO CHANGE

children in which she could test her theory that B) each child’s mind learns according to its own
schedule
16 children’s minds each learn according to they’re C) childrens’ minds learn according to its own
own schedule. She personalized a curriculum for each schedule
D) children’s minds each learn according to their
child rather than providing a standardized course of own schedule
study. While learning important academic and life

skills, many formerly aggressive and unmanageable 17

children became more emotionally balanced and A) NO CHANGE
B) increase
self-directed. Word of her success with the Casa dei
C) spread
Bambini soon began to 17 distribute internationally,
D) exhibit
and her methods for child-centered education became

widely adopted across Europe. 18

18 In the 25 years after their founding, Montessori Which choice provides the most effective introduc-
tion to this paragraph?
schools were regarded as a remedy to the educational
A) Montessori dedicated herself to travelling the
problems associated with rapid urban population world and preaching the benefits of child-
centered education.
growth throughout Europe.
B) Montessori’s first school enrolled 50 students
from poor working families.
C) Montessori did not have a particularly
nurturing relationship with her own son,
Mario, who was raised by another family.
D) As the Montessori method was gaining a
foothold, Europe was undergoing dramatic
social and political change.

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19 So as fascism began to proliferate in the 1930s 19

throughout Spain, Italy, and Germany, child-centered A) NO CHANGE

B) When
education came to be seen as a threat to the power of
C) However, as
the state. In 1933, the totalitarian regimes in Italy and
D) Furthermore, as
Germany closed all Montessori schools and declared

20 them subversive and that they were undermining 20

their power. A) NO CHANGE

Even outside of Europe, 21 the response to B) that they were subversive in undermining
their power
Montessori’s ideas were divided. Many eminent schol- C) them subversive in undermining power
ars, inventors, and politicians—among them Alexander D) them subversive

Graham Bell, Helen Keller, Thomas Edison, Mahatma

Gandhi, and Woodrow Wilson— greeted her ideas 21

A) NO CHANGE
with enthusiasm. But her theories were challenged by
B) the response to Montessori’s ideas was
William H. Kirkpatrick, a leading educational reformer
C) Montessori’s ideas had a response that was
and professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. D) Montessori’s ideas response was
His 1914 book, The Montessori System Examined,

declared Montessori’s psychological theories wildly 22

out-of-date. 22 At this point, the paragraph would benefit most

from a discussion of
It was not until 1958 that a new generation of
A) how Kirkpatrick’s book was received among
Montessorians revived and updated her methods in the American educators

United States. In 1958, the first American Montessori B) why totalitarian governments regarded
Montessori’s methods as a threat
school, the Whitby School, was founded in Greenwich, C) those American educators whose influence was
Connecticut, where it thrives today. comparable to Montessori’s
D) how other reform movements of the era
contrasted with Montessori’s

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Questions 23–33 are based on the following 23
passage.
A) NO CHANGE
B) So
Platonic Forms
C) While
When we look at the moon, we see a spherical D) In fact,
object, but do “spheres” really exist? This may seem to

be a silly question, because it’s not hard to understand 24

the definition of a sphere: “the set of all points in space A) NO CHANGE
B) overlaps
that are a fixed distance (called the radius) from a fixed
C) corresponds
point (called the center).” We see examples of “spheri-
D) concurs
cal” objects all the time, don’t we?

23 First, nothing that we can observe in our physi- 25

cal world 24 complies perfectly to this mathematical A) NO CHANGE
definition of a sphere. The moon, a beach ball, and even B) where no such thing exists
C) as if nothing is
water droplets are all “bumpy,” at least at the atomic
D) if there were nothing
level. So can we say that the concept of “sphere” is real

25 if there is no such thing as a real sphere?

26
Pondering this question as so many ancient Greek A) NO CHANGE
philosophers did, 26 the argument Plato made was B) it was Plato who argued

that the sphere is an “ideal form,” inaccessible to our C) Plato had argued
D) Plato argued
physical senses yet 27 the mind can apprehend it

through pure reason.

27
A) NO CHANGE
B) it can be apprehended by the mind
C) apprehensible to the mind
D) it is apprehensible to the mind

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He also reasoned that, since our senses can be fooled, 28
logic provides a much more reliable path to the truth. A) NO CHANGE

Therefore, a Platonic idealist believes that these abstract B) as effective as, if not more effective than,
C) as effective, if not more effective, than
forms are 28 as effective, if not more so, than sensory
D) equally as effective, if not more effective than,
experience at revealing the nature of reality. 29
29
Modern scientists and philosophers are unlikely to
At this point, the author is considering adding the
be Platonic idealists. Today, we can understand the ori- following true statement:
gin of abstract concepts 30 and not having to believe The sphere is just one of many ideal forms,
like lines and tetrahedrons, that are studied
that they come from a higher, physically inaccessible
in geometry.
reality. We simply need to understand 31 the process Should the author make this addition here?
by which our brains make inferences. A) Yes, because it indicates a particular
application of ideal forms.
Take an abstract idea like “orangeness.” Most of
B) Yes, because explains a claim made in the
us would say that orangeness “exists” because we see previous sentence.
examples of it every day, such as carrots, traffic cones, C) No, because it detracts from this paragraph’s
discussion of philosophy.
and pumpkins. But what if, by some magic, we could
D) No, because it undermines the Platonists’ point
remove all orange-colored objects from the universe? of view.

In other words, what if, as with “sphereness,” no real

30
examples of “orangeness” 32 would exist? Would A) NO CHANGE
“orangeness” still exist? B) in not having to believe
C) and not be believing
D) without having to believe

31
A) NO CHANGE
B) our brain’s process by which they
C) the process by which our brain’s
D) the process by which our brain

32
A) NO CHANGE
B) would have existed
C) existed
D) had an existence

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In an important sense, the answer is yes. We can 33
demonstrate the existence of “orangeness” without Which of the following changes would best improve
this sentence’s cohesiveness with the rest of the
appealing to any higher reality. We could measure the paragraph?
wavelength of red light (about 650 nm), and yellow light A) Change “For instance” to “Nevertheless.”
(about 570 nm) and make the reasonable inference, B) Change both instances of “you” to “we.”
C) Change “you unconsciously make changes” to
because wavelengths fall on a continuum, that a color
“changes are unconsciously made”
exists with an intermediate wavelength, of 610 nm, D) Delete the phrase “like dangerous driving
conditions.”
even if we have never directly measured such light.

Our brains do not contain sophisticated instru-

ments for measuring wavelengths of light, but they do

make similar inferences constantly. 33 For instance,

when you drive, you unconsciously make inferences

about quantities like the speeds of surrounding cars

and qualities like dangerous driving conditions. Our

brains are continually making inferences based on the

limited information from our senses, and these infer-

ences are the substance of abstract thought.

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Questions 34–44 are based on the following 34
passage and supplementary material.
A) NO CHANGE
B) nowhere—perhaps
The Eureka Effect
C) nowhere: perhaps
You’ve probably had the experience. After racking D) nowhere; perhaps
your brain for hours to solve a problem, you finally

put it aside and move on to other things. Then, much 35

later, seemingly out of 34 nowhere, perhaps while A) NO CHANGE

showering or driving—the answer suddenly strikes B) what Archmides is said to shout

C) that Archimedes shouted, it is said
you. Psychologists call this the “Eureka effect,” from
D) which Archimedes it is said had shouted
the ancient Greek word meaning “I have found it,”

35 which Archimides is said to have shouted as he ran

36
naked from his bathtub through the streets of Syracuse A) NO CHANGE
upon suddenly solving a vexing physics problem. B) indicate
C) provide
Does this feeling arise from our emotional centers
D) generate
or our cognitive centers? In other words, is it simply

an emotional response to finding a solution, or does it

36 foretell a fundamentally different way of thinking?

Psychologists have tried to answer this question by

looking inside subjects’ brains as they solve problems,

using electroencephalograms (EEGs) and other tools.

GAMMA-BAND INTENSITY IN RIGHT ANTERIOR TEMPORAL REGION

DURING VERBAL ASSOCIATION TASK
Gamma Power

1.7×10−10 Insight

1.3×10−10 Non-insight

0.9×10−10

−2.0 −1.5 −1.0 −0.5 0 0.5 1.0

Time from button-press response (seconds)
Source: Adapted from Beeman, Bowden et al., “Neural Activity When People Solve Problems with Insight,” PLOS, 2004

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In one 37 experiment, subjects performed a word 37

association task, scientists measured the activity in the A) NO CHANGE

B) experiment by which subjects
region of the brain called the right hemisphere ante-
C) experiment where subjects
rior superior temporal gyrus (RH aSTG). This region is
D) experiment, in which subjects
known to be active in tasks, such as finding a theme in

a story, 38 that requires integrating and bringing 38

together information from many distant parts of A) NO CHANGE

the brain, but is not particularly active in emotional B) that require integrating and bringing together
C) that require integrating
responses.
D) that requires integrating
The subjects were asked to perform a challenging

verbal association task, press a button as soon as

39
39 solving it, and report whether or not they felt the A) NO CHANGE
“Aha!” feeling. If they did, the response was classified as B) it was being solved
C) they solved it
an “insight” solution. If they did not, it was classified
D) it’s solution
as a “non-insight” solution.

40 What was interesting, experimenters found

40
that the insight solutions were accompanied by an A) NO CHANGE
elevated level of “gamma band” activity in the RH B) The interesting thing was that

aSTG, supporting the theory that the feeling 41 had C) It was interesting that
D) Interestingly,
corresponded

41
A) NO CHANGE
B) corresponds
C) is corresponding
D) will correspond

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to a cognitive process rather than purely an emo- 42
tional one. 42 At this point in the passage, the author wants to
mention specific evidence indicated by the graph.
Interpreting 43 this data is not a very simple mat- Which statement is most justified by the data in
ter, however. Many questions remain to be answered. this graph?

For instance, does the increased gamma-band activ- A) The gamma power in the RH aSTG for the
insight solution is more than double that for
ity represent a transition of cognitive processing from the non-insight solution.
an unconscious state to a conscious one? 44 If that is B) This increase in activity seems to begin about
0.3 seconds prior to the button-press response,
true, a question would be what are the unconscious and to lasts about 1 second.
processes that are working? Also, in what way do those C) The gamma activity for the insight solution
appears to be roughly equivalent to that for
processes become conscious all of a sudden? the non-insight solution until the instant the
button is pushed.
D) This increase in activity seems to begin about
0.3 seconds after the button-press response,
and to last about 0.5 second.

43
A) NO CHANGE
B) this data are
C) these data are
D) these data is

44
Which of the following best combines the last two
sentences into one?

A) If so, what are the unconscious processes that

are working, suddenly becoming conscious?
B) If so, what unconscious processes are at work,
and how do they suddenly become conscious?
C) If so, what would be the unconscious processes
working, and how would they suddenly
become conscious?
D) If so, what are both the unconscious process
at work, and how do they suddenly become
conscious?

STOP
If you finish before time is called, you may check your work on this section only.
Do not turn to any other section of the test.

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