GRE Verbal RC II

Reviving the practice of using elements of popular music in classical composition, an approach that had been in hibernation in the United States during the 1960s, composer Philip Glass (born 1937) embraced the ethos of popular music in his compositions. Glass based two symphonies on music by rock musicians David Bowie and Brian Eno, but the symphonies’ sound is distinctively his. Popular elements do not appear out of place in Glass’s classical music, which from its early days has shared certain harmonies and rhythms with rock music. Yet this use of popular elements has not made Glass a composer of popular music. His music is not a version of popular music packaged to attract classical listeners; it is high art for listeners steeped in rock rather than the classics.

The passage addresses which of the following issues related to Glass’s use of popular elements in his classical compositions?

• How it is regarded by listeners who prefer rock to the classics

• How it has affected the commercial success of Glass’s music

• Whether it has contributed to a revival of interest among other composers in using popular elements in their compositions

• Whether it has had a detrimental effect on Glass’s reputation as a composer of classical music

• Whether it has caused certain of Glass’s works to be derivative in quality

Reviving the practice of using elements of popular music in classical composition, an approach that had been in hibernation in the United States during the 1960s, composer Philip Glass (born 1937) embraced the ethos of popular music in his compositions. Glass based two symphonies on music by rock musicians David Bowie and Brian Eno, but the symphonies’ sound is distinctively his. Popular elements do not appear out of place in Glass’s classical music, which from its early days has shared certain harmonies and rhythms with rock music. Yet this use of popular elements has not made Glass a composer of popular music. His music is not a version of popular music packaged to attract classical listeners; it is high art for listeners steeped in rock rather than the classics.

The passage suggests that Glass’s work displays which of the following qualities? Select all that apply

• A return to the use of popular music in classical compositions

• An attempt to elevate rock music to an artistic status more closely approximating that of classical music

• A long-standing tendency to incorporate elements from two apparently disparate musical styles

Reviving the practice of using elements of popular music in classical composition, an approach that had been in hibernation in the United States during the 1960s, composer Philip Glass (born 1937) embraced the ethos of popular music in his compositions. Glass based two symphonies on music by rock musicians David Bowie and Brian Eno, but the symphonies’ sound is distinctively his. Popular elements do not appear out of place in Glass’s classical music, which from its early days has shared certain harmonies and rhythms with rock music. Yet this use of popular elements has not made Glass a composer of popular music. His music is not a version of popular music packaged to attract classical listeners; it is high art for listeners steeped in rock rather than the classics.

Select the sentence that distinguishes two ways of integrating rock and classical music

• His music is not a version of popular music packaged to attract classical listeners; it is high art for listeners steeped in rock rather than the classics.

• Reviving the practice of using elements of popular music in classical composition, an approach that had been in hibernation in the United States during the 1960s, composer Philip Glass (born 1937) embraced the ethos of popular music in his compositions

• Glass based two symphonies on music by rock musicians David Bowie and Brian Eno, but the symphonies’ sound is distinctively his. Popular elements do not appear out of place in Glass’s classical music, which from its early days has shared certain harmonies and rhythms with rock music.

Ragwort was accidentally introduced to New Zealand in the late nineteenth century and, like so many invading foreign species, quickly became a pest. By the 1920s, the weed was rampant. What made matters worse was that its proliferation coincided with sweeping changes in agriculture and a massive shift from sheep farming to dairying. Ragwort contains a battery of toxic and resilient alkaloids: even honey made from its flowers contains the poison in dilute form. Livestock generally avoid grazing where ragwort is growing, but they will do so once it displaces grass and clover in their pasture. Though sheep can eat it for months before showing any signs of illness, if cattle eat it they sicken quickly, and fatality can even result.

The passage suggests that the proliferation of ragwort was particularly ill-timed because it

• coincided with and exacerbated a decline in agriculture

• took place in conditions that enabled the ragwort to spread faster than it otherwise would have done

• led to an increase in the amount of toxic compounds contained in the plants

• prevented people from producing honey that could be eaten safely

• had consequences for livestock that were more dramatic than they otherwise would have been

Ragwort was accidentally introduced to New Zealand in the late nineteenth century and, like so many invading foreign species, quickly became a pest. By the 1920s, the weed was rampant. What made matters worse was that its proliferation coincided with sweeping changes in agriculture and a massive shift from sheep farming to dairying. Ragwort contains a battery of toxic and resilient alkaloids: even honey made from its flowers contains the poison in dilute form. Livestock generally avoid grazing where ragwort is growing, but they will do so once it displaces grass and clover in their pasture. Though sheep can eat it for months before showing any signs of illness, if cattle eat it they sicken quickly, and fatality can even result.

The passage implies which of the following about the problems ragwort poses to dairy farmers? Select all that apply

• Milk produced by cows that eat ragwort causes illness in humans who drink it.

• Ragwort can supplant the plants normally eaten by cattle

• Cattle, unlike sheep, are unable to differentiate between ragwort and healthy grazing.

That sales can be increased by the presence of sunlight within a store has been shown by the experience of the only Savefast department store with a large skylight. The skylight allows sunlight into half of the store, reducing the need for artificial light. The rest of the store uses only artificial light. Since the store opened two years ago, the departments on the sunlit side have had substantially higher sales than the other departments.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?

• On particularly cloudy days, more artificial light is used to illuminate the part of the store under the skylight.

• When the store is open at night, the departments in the part of the store under the skylight have sales that are no higher than those of other departments.

• Many customers purchase items from departments in both parts of the store on a single shopping trip.

• Besides the skylight, there are several significant architectural differences between the two parts of the store.

• The departments in the part of the store under the skylight are the departments that generally have the highest sales in other stores in the Savefast chain.

While the best sixteenth-century Renaissance scholars mastered the classics of ancient Roman literature in the original Latin and understood them in their original historical context, most of the scholars’ educated contemporaries knew the classics only from school lessons on selected Latin texts. These were chosen by Renaissance teachers after much deliberation, for works written by and for the sophisticated adults of pagan Rome were not always considered suitable for the Renaissance young: the central Roman classics refused (as classics often do) to teach appropriate morality and frequently suggested the opposite. Teachers accordingly made students’ needs, not textual and historical accuracy, their supreme interest, chopping dangerous texts into short phrases, and using these to impart lessons extemporaneously on a variety of subjects, from syntax to science. Thus, I believe that a modern reader cannot know the associations that a line of ancient Roman poetry or prose had for any particular educated sixteenth-century reader.

The passage is primarily concerned with discussing the

• unsuitability of the Roman classics for the teaching of morality

• approach that sixteenth-century scholars took to learning the Roman classics

• effect that the Roman classics had on educated people in the Renaissance

• way in which the Roman classics were taught in the sixteenth century

• contrast between the teaching of the Roman classics in the Renaissance and the teaching of the Roman classics today

While the best sixteenth-century Renaissance scholars mastered the classics of ancient Roman literature in the original Latin and understood them in their original historical context, most of the scholars’ educated contemporaries knew the classics only from school lessons on selected Latin texts. These were chosen by Renaissance teachers after much deliberation, for works written by and for the sophisticated adults of pagan Rome were not always considered suitable for the Renaissance young: the central Roman classics refused (as classics often do) to teach appropriate morality and frequently suggested the opposite. Teachers accordingly made students’ needs, not textual and historical accuracy, their supreme interest, chopping dangerous texts into short phrases, and using these to impart lessons extemporaneously on a variety of subjects, from syntax to science. Thus, I believe that a modern reader cannot know the associations that a line of ancient Roman poetry or prose had for any particular educated sixteenth-century reader.

The information in the passage suggests that which of the following would most likely result from a student’s having studied the Roman classics under a typical sixteenth-century teacher?

• The student recalls a line of Roman poetry in conjunction with a point learned about grammar.

• The student argues that a Roman poem about gluttony is not morally offensive when it is understood in its historical context.

• The student is easily able to express thoughts in Latin.

• The student has mastered large portions of the Roman classics

• The student has a sophisticated knowledge of Roman poetry but little knowledge of Roman prose.

Supernovas in the Milky Way are the likeliest source for most of the cosmic rays reaching Earth. However, calculations show that supernovas cannot produce ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs), which have energies exceeding 1018 electron volts. It would seem sensible to seek the source of these in the universe’s most conspicuous energy factories: quasars and gamma-ray bursts billions of light-years away from Earth. But UHECRs tend to collide with photons of the cosmic microwave background—pervasive radiation that is a relic of the early universe. The odds favor a collision every 20 million light-years, each collision costing 20 percent of the cosmic ray’s energy. Consequently, no cosmic ray traveling much beyond 100 million light-years can retain the energy observed in UHECRs.

It can be inferred that the author of the passage would agree with which of the following about the origin of UHECRs that reach Earth? (select all that apply)

• The origin is something other than supernovas in the Milky Way

• The origin is most likely something other than very distant quasars or gamma-ray bursts

• The origin is most likely no more than a little over 100 million light-years away from Earth.

Supernovas in the Milky Way are the likeliest source for most of the cosmic rays reaching Earth. However, calculations show that supernovas cannot produce ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs), which have energies exceeding 1018 electron volts. It would seem sensible to seek the source of these in the universe’s most conspicuous energy factories: quasars and gamma-ray bursts billions of light-years away from Earth. But UHECRs tend to collide with photons of the cosmic microwave background—pervasive radiation that is a relic of the early universe. The odds favor a collision every 20 million light-years, each collision costing 20 percent of the cosmic ray’s energy. Consequently, no cosmic ray traveling much beyond 100 million light-years can retain the energy observed in UHECRs.

In the context of the author’s argument, the last sentence performs which of the following functions?

• It explains a criterion that was employed earlier in the argument.

• It shows that an apparently plausible position is actually self-contradictory

• It is a conclusion drawn in the course of refuting a potential explanation.

• It overturns an assumption on which an opposing position depends.

• It states the main conclusion that the author is seeking to establish.