ACT English Practice #1

The father and originator of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), is largely respon-sible for the way we understand ourselves.

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• father (and originator) of

• father, and originator of

• father of

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), is largely respon-sible for the way we understand ourselves, as creatures, with² conflicting “selves” and desires.

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• ourselves as creatures with

• ourselves, being like creatures with

• ourselves. As creatures with

Freud posited³ the notion that the mind is teeming with “psychic energy” and that our personality is shaped largely by the interactions of the levels of the mind. Among Freud’s most important contributions to modern psychology and the contemporary understanding of the self is his theory of the unconscious.

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• positioned

• deposited

• supposed

According to Freud, the mind is much like an iceberg. Most of our minds⁴ activi-ties, then, occur beneath the surface, in the unconscious and beyond our knowing.

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• mind

• mind's

• minds'

The conscious is the part of the mind of which we are aware; it is the tip of the iceberg that is visible above the water. The uncon-scious, on the other hand,⁵ is all that is below the surface—the thoughts, feelings, and desires that we are not aware of but that nonetheless affect our behavior.

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• likewise

• unfortunately,

• thereby,

Freud believed that the unconscious is deterministic. That is, our behaviors are caused (determined) by thoughts and impulses deep in our unconscious—of which thoughts and impulses we are not aware.⁶

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• we are not aware of which thoughts and impulses

• thoughts and impulses of which we are not aware

• which we are not aware of, these thoughts and impulses

Unless we psychoanalyze ourselves, we may never be aware of the hidden reasons for our actions. This suggests that the notion of free will might have been⁷ an illusion and that our choices are governed by hidden mental processes which we have no control over.

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• would be

• has been

• is

Repression is the act of pushing our con-flicts to the unconscious. So that⁹ we are no longer aware of them, It is our chief defense mechanism (a way to avoid conflict between our true desires and our senses of right and wrong).

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• unconscious of which

• unconscious so that

• unconscious, for

It is our chief defense mechanism (a way to avoid conflict between our true desires and our senses of right and wrong^10).  Freud believed that too much repres-sion can lead to neurosis, a mental disorder resulting in depression or abnormal behavior, sometimes with physical symptoms but with no evidence of disease.

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• our sense of right and wrong

• our senses of rights and wrongs

• our sense of rights and wrongs

This suggests that the notion of free will might have been an illusion and that our choices are goverend by hidden mental process which we have no control over.⁸

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• we have no control over

• we can't control

• over which we have no control