gre reading practice test 02

7/25/2019 GRE Reading Practice Test 02

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RE Reading Comprehension Practice Test 02

August 15, 2011 Mike Xiao

The first and most important rule of legitimate or popular government, that is to say, of government whose object is the

good of the people, is therefore, as I have observed, to follow

in everything the general will. But to follow this will it is

5 necessary to know it, and above all to distinguish it from the

particular will, beginning with one's self this distinction is

always very difficult to make, and only the most sublime virtue

can afford sufficient illumination for it. !s, in order to will,

it is necessary to be free, a difficulty no less great than the

"# former arises $ that of preserving at once the public liberty

and the authority of government. %ook into the motives which have

induced men, once united by their common needs in a general

society, to unite themselves still more intimately by means of

civil societies you will find no other motive than that of

"5 assuring the property, life and liberty of each member by the

protection of all. But can men be forced to defend the liberty

of any one among them, without trespassing on that of others&

!nd how can they provide for the public needs, without alienating

the individual property of those who are forced to contribute to

# them& (ith whatever sophistry all this may be covered over, it is certain that if any constraint can be laid on my will, I am no

longer free, and that I am no longer master of my own property,

if any one else can lay a hand on it. This difficulty, which would

have seemed insurmountable, has been removed, like the first, by

5 the most sublime of all human institutions, or rather by a divine

inspiration, which teaches mankind to imitate here below the

unchangeable decrees of the )eity. By what inconceivable art has a

means been found of making men free by making them subject* of

using in the service of the +tate the properties, the persons and

# even the lives of all its members, without constraining and without

consulting them* of confining their will by their own admission* of

overcoming their refusal by that consent, and forcing them to punish

themselves, when they act against their own will& -ow can it be that

all should obey, yet nobody take upon him to command, and that all

5 should serve, and yet have no masters, but be the more free, as, in

apparent subjection, each loses no part of his liberty but what might

be hurtful to that of another& These wonders are the work of law. It

is to law alone that men owe justice and liberty. It is this salutary

organ of the will of all which establishes, in civil right, the# natural e/uality between men. It is this celestial voice which

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dictates to each citi0en the precepts of public reason, and teaches

him to act according to the rules of his own judgment, and not to

behave inconsistently with himself. It is with this voice alone that

political rulers should speak when they command* for no sooner does

5 one man, setting aside the law, claim to subject another to his private will, than he departs from the state of civil society, and

confronts him face to face in the pure state of nature, in which

obedience is prescribed solely by necessity.

1The parado! in "ine 2# is reso"$ed according to the author %hen an

indi$idua"

A su&mits to the ru"e o' "a% and thus is at "i&ert( to do

an(thing that does not harm another person

) &eha$es according to the natura" rights o' man and not

according to imposed ru"es

C agrees to 'o""o% the ru"e o' "a% e$en %hen it is against his

&est interests* &e"ongs to a societ( %hich guarantees indi$idua" "i&ert( at

a"" times

E 'o""o%s the %i"" o' the ma+orit(

2The authors attitude to "a% in this passage is &est con$e(ed as

A respect 'or its ina"iena&"e authorit(

) e!to""ing its importance as a human institution

C resignation to the need 'or its imposition on the ma+orit(

* acceptance o' its restrictions

E praise 'or its di$ine origin

-The author %ou"d agree %ith a"" o' the 'o""o%ing e!cept


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A go$ernment must maintain its authorit( %ithout undu"(

compromising persona" "i&ert(

) indi$idua" 'reedom is threatened in the a&sence o' "a%

C +ustice cannot &e ensured in the a&sence o' "a%

* po"itica" "eaders shou"d use the "a% as their guide to correct

"eadership

E the "a% recogni.es that a"" men are capa&"e o' recogni.ing

%hat is in the genera" interest

The ta"e o' Pi"tdo%n Man, the most in'amous 'orger( in the

contentious detecti$e stor( o' the origins o' mankind, &egan in

1/12 n *ecem&er 1# that (ear Char"es *a%son, a %e""kno%n

amateur )ritish archaeo"ogist, and Arthur mith 3ood%ard, o'

5 the )ritish Museum o' 4atura" istor(, announced the disco$er(

o' some ama.ing human 'ossi"s The remains comprised nine pieces

o' sku"", a &roken +a% %ith t%o teeth in p"ace, a 'e% stone

too"s, and some anima" &ones, a"" o' %hich had &een disco$ered on a 'arm

near Pi"tdo%n Common in usse!

10 3hen pieced together the sku"" "ooked distinct"( human A"though

Pi"tdo%n Man, as the hominid &ecame kno%n, had unusua""( thick

&ones, the &rain case %as "arge and rounded There %as no sign

o' prominent &ro% ridges or other ape"ike 'eatures o%e$er, the

shape o' the +a% &one resem&"ed that o' an ape The on"( human

15 characteristic o' this +a% %as the %ear on the t%o mo"ars, %hich

%ere ground do%n '"at, as is 're6uent"( true o' hominids %ho eat tough or a&rasi$e 'oods, such as seeds 7n other %ords the

creature had the +a% o' an ape and the sku"" o' 5omo sapiens

The primiti$e stone too"s 'ound %ith these remains suggested a

20 remote age 'or Pi"tdo%n Man, perhaps the Ear"( P"eistocene or

e$en the 8ate P"iocene 97n 1/12 e!perts thought the P"iocene

"asted 'rom 1 mi""ion to :00 000 (ears ago cientists no% date

it to &et%een 5 mi""ion and 1; mi""ion (ears ago< This date

%as a"so supported &( some anima" &ones 'ound %ith Pi"tdo%n Man


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25 To most scientists o' the time, Pi"tdo%n Man 'u"'i""ed a

prediction made &( the pioneering e$o"utionist Char"es *ar%in,

%ho had &e"ie$ed that humans and the apes cou"d &e connected

genetica""( through a sti"" undisco$ered creature Most

signi'icant"(, it %as ha"'human in precise"( the 'eature-0 that %as then accepted as the most important di''erence

&et%een humans and the apes the &rain At this time there

%as "itt"e 'ossi" e$idence to contradict the idea that the

&rain %as among the 'irst o' the human 'eatures to e$o"$e

As time %ent on, ho%e$er, 5omo erectus'ossi"s %ere 'ound in

-5 =a$a and China, %hi"e in outh A'rica the austra"opithecines

%ere &eing disco$ered A"" these 'ossi"s had human"ike +a%s

and teeth and re"ati$e"( sma"" &rains in contrast to Pi"tdo%n

Man>s "arge cranium and ape"ike +a% The "arge &rain simp"(

did not 'it %ith the rest o' the 'ossi" e$idence )( 1/?#

?0 scientists kne% that &ones &uried in the earth gradua""(

a&sor& '"uorine The o"der a &one, the more '"uorine it

contains 3hen the Pi"tdo%n materia"s %ere tested 'or '"uorine,

the sku"" and +a% 'ragments turned out to &e much (ounger

than the Ear"( P"eistocene anima" &ones %ith %hich the sku""

?5 had &een 'ound

cientists %ere no% $er( suspicious 7n 1/5- a"" the Pi"tdo%n materia" %as tested 'or its authenticit( 4ot on"( %as the

recent age o' the +a% and sku"" con'irmed, &ut the +a% pro$ed

to &e that o' a modern orangutan, %ith the teeth 'i"ed do%n

50 in a 6uite o&$ious manner to imitate %ear on human teeth

)ut the 'orger had not stopped there A &one too" 'ound

%ith the remains had &een made in recent times %ith a stee"

kni'e, %hich "ea$es di''erent marks than does a stone '"ake

or a!e The too"s, as %e"" as the anima" &ones, had &een

55 taken 'rom di''erent archaeo"ogica" sites

nce the 'orger( %as e!posed &( modem scienti'ic ana"(sis

the m(ster( %as no "onger %here Pi"tdo%n Man came in human

e$o"ution &ut %ho %as responsi&"e 'or the hoa!, and %h(@

A"though *a%son, the disco$erer o' most o' the Pi"tdo%n

:0 materia", is 're6uent"( sing"ed out as the person responsi&"e

'or this practica" +oke, there is no de'inite proo' and the

6uestion is 'ar 'rom sett"ed


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?The Pi"tdo%n sku"" seemed distinct"( human &ecause it had

92e"ect A88 ans%er choices that app"(

gre reading practice test 02

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