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Medical College Admission Test: Verbal Reasoning, Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences, Writing Sample (Page 31 )

Updated On: 30-Sep-2026
Page 31 of 164
PDF with 811 Questions

...Squeaking sand produces sounds with very high frequencies ­ between 500 and 2,500 hertz, lasting less than a quarter of a second. The peals are musically pure, often containing four or five harmonic overtones. Booming sand makes louder, low-frequency sounds of 50 to 300 hertz, which may last as long as 15 minutes in larger dunes (although typically they last for seconds or less). In addition, they are rather noisy, containing a multitude of nearby frequencies. Booms have never been observed to contain more than one harmonic of the fundamental tone.
These dramatic differences once led to a consensus that although both types of sand produce acoustic emissions, the ways in which they do so must be substantially different... In the late 1970s, however, Peter K. Haff, then at the California Institute of Technology, produced squeaks in booming sand, suggesting a closer connection between the two.
Both kinds of sand must be displaced to make sounds. Walking on some sand, for example, forces the sand underfoot to move down and out, producing squeaks. In the case of booming sand, displacement occurs during avalanches. It is within the avalanche that sound begins and where the answers must be hiding.
Before an avalanche can occur, winds must build a dune up to a certain angle, usually about 35 degrees for dry desert sand. Once an angle is achieved, the sand on the leeward side of the dune begins to slump. Intact layers of sand slip over the layers below, like a sheared deck of cards. At the same time, the individual grains in the upper layers tumble over the grains underneath, momentarily falling into the spaces between them and bouncing out again to continue their downward journey. Their concerted up-and-down motion is believed to be the secret source of sound. Fully developed avalanches, in which sliding plates of sand remain intact for most of their motion, have the greatest acoustic output. In some places, where large amounts of sand are involved, booming can be heard up to 10 kilometers away.
Because it is caused by large volumes of shearing sand, the roaring is also loud. In fact, sounds made by booming sand can be nearly deafening, and the vibrations causing them can be so intense that standing in their midst is nearly impossible.
A good place to start in exploring the vibrational properties of sand is with the grains themselves. The mean diameter of most sand grains, whether acoustically active or not, is about 300 microns. Usually the grains in a booming dune are very similar in size, especially near the leeward crest, where the sound most often originates; such uniformity allows for more efficient shearing. Otherwise, the smaller grains impede the smooth motion of the larger ones.
Similar sizes do not alone allow sand to boom. On the contrary, the booming sands of Korizo and Gelf Kebib, also in Libya, feature an uncharacteristically broad range of particle sizes. Moreover, silent dune sand often contains grains somewhat similar to nearby booming sand.
Grains of booming sand also tend to have uncommonly smooth surfaces, with protrusions on the scale of mere microns. Booming dunes are often found at the downwind end of large sand sources; having bounced and rolled across the desert for long distances, the sand grains in these dunes are usually highly polished. Over time a grain can also be polished by repeated shifts within a moving dune. And squeaking sand as well tends to be exceptionally smooth...
...Another important factor is humidity, because moisture can modify the friction between grains or cause sand to clump together, thus precluding shearing. Sounds occur in those parts of the dune that dry the fastest.

Precipitation may be rare in the desert, but dunes retain water with remarkable efficiency. Sand near the surface dries quickly, however, and sand around a dune's crest tends to dry the fastest.
Which of the following discoveries would give the most support to the hypothesis that squeaking sand and booming sand differ only in the mechanism by which the sounds are produced?

  1. Avalanches can be induced in squeaking sand.
  2. Squeaking sand can be made to generate booming sounds.
  3. Booming sounds made by dunes can be generated by mechanisms other than avalanches.
  4. Smooth grains are not a requirement for booming sand.

Answer(s): B

Explanation:

Paragraph two of the passage contains a rather tantalizing piece of information about the two kinds of sand:
squeaking sounds can be produced by sand that normally "booms." This is however not developed in the rest of the passage. In this question we are asked to consider what may be a rather radical hypothesis: that there is nothing unique about either squeaking or booming sand in terms of intrinsic physical or chemical properties; the same sand can be either kind, depending simply upon how the sound is created. We already know that booming sand can generate squeaking sounds; if, conversely, sand that is traditionally characterized as squeaking can actually produce booming, then this would strongly suggest that the hypothesis may be correct.
All the other answer choices fail to address the hypothesis. Choice A is very close to the correct choice: we know that avalanches are what create booming in booming sand. If squeaking sand can be induced to undergo avalanches, this might lead us to think that squeaking sand is similar to booming sand. However, we are not told in choice A that these avalanches produce the booming sound that essentially defines booming sand: it may be that the avalanches in squeaking sand are silent, and thus there may be something about booming sand that produces noise when undergoing an avalanche.
Choice C is incorrect because even if we discover that there are alternate ways to generate "booming," there is no reason to believe that squeaking sand will boom via these mechanisms. It is possible that only sand with certain characteristics will boom through these processes, but that squeaking sand just does not possess these characteristics.
Choice D is also incorrect since even if rough sand grains can boom, there may be other requirements for the sand that squeaking sand does not satisfy.



When Gwendolyn Brooks published her first collection of poetry A Street In Bronzeville in 1945 most reviewers recognized Brooks' versatility and craft as a poet. Yet, while noting her stylistic successes few of her contemporaries discussed the critical question of Brooks' relationship to the Harlem Renaissance. How had she addressed herself, as a poet, to the literary movement's assertion of the folk and African culture, and its promotion of the arts as the agent to define racial integrity?
The New Negro poets of the Harlem Renaissance expressed a deep pride in being Black; they found reasons for this pride in ethnic identity and heritage; and they shared a common faith in the fine arts as a means of defining and reinforcing racial pride. But in the literal expression of this impulse, the poets were either romantics, or realists and, quite often within the same poem, both. The realistic impulse, as defined best in the poems of McKay's Harlem Shadows (1922), was a sober reflection upon Blacks as second class citizens, segregated from the mainstream of American socio-economic life, and largely unable to realize the wealth and opportunity that America promised. The romantic impulse, on the other hand, as defined in the poems of Sterling Brown's Southern Road (1932), often found these unrealized dreams in the collective strength and will of the folk masses.
In comparing the poems in A Street in Bronzeville with various poems from the Renaissance, it becomes apparent that Brooks brings many unique contributions to bear on this tradition. The first clue that A Street In Bronzeville was, at its time of publication, unlike any other book of poems by a Black American is its insistent emphasis on demystifying romantic love between Black men and women. During the Renaissance, ethnic or racial pride was often focused with romantic idealization upon the Black woman. A casual streetwalker in Hughes' poem, "When Sue Wears Red," for example, is magically transformed into an Egyptian Queen. In A Street In Bronzeville, this romantic impulse runs headlong into the biting ironies of racial discrimination. There are poems in which Hughes, McKay and Brown recognize the realistic underside of urban life for Black women. But for Brooks, unlike the Renaissance poets, the victimization of poor Black women becomes not simply a minor chord but a predominant theme.
...Brooks' relationship with the Harlem Renaissance poets, as A Street in Bronzeville ably demonstrates, was hardly imitative. As one of the important links with the Black poetic tradition of the 1920s and 1930s, she enlarged the element of realism that was an important part of the Renaissance world-view. Although her poetry is often conditioned by the optimism that was also a legacy of the period, Brooks rejects outright their romantic prescriptions for the lives of Black women. And in this regard, she serves as a vital link with the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s that, while it witnessed the flowering of Black women as poets and social activists as well as the rise of Black feminist aesthetics in the 1970s, brought about a curious revival of romanticism in the Renaissance mode.
Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?

  1. The evolution of realism in Black women's poetry can be traced from Gwendolyn Brooks to the present day.
  2. Gwendolyn Brooks' first poems were unique in the context of early twentieth-century poetry.
  3. Contemporary scholars misinterpreted the crucial issue of Gwendolyn Brooks' relationship to the Harlem Renaissance.
  4. Gwendolyn Brooks' poetry brought a new emphasis on the realistic elements of the Harlem Renaissance tradition.

Answer(s): D

Explanation:

This correctly cites the author's purpose, mentioning both the 1920's movement and Brooks, though properly emphasizing the latter.
(A) and (B) fail to mention the Harlem Renaissance, which cannot be separated from the author's discussion.
Also, (A) goes in the wrong direction (forward in time rather than backward from Brooks), while (B) tends to deny Brooks' profound connection to the Black poets who preceded her.
(C) Scope error: Passage is not about scholars (author uses "contemporaries" differently in line 5). Also, the passage is trying to make an interpretation, not correct one.
(E) is too strong a judgment for this passage, and cannot be correct because it leaves out the topic of Gwendolyn Brooks.
Kaplan Strategy: The answer to "global" questions has to cover the same topic and scope, and reflect the same tone, as the overall passage itself.



When Gwendolyn Brooks published her first collection of poetry A Street In Bronzeville in 1945 most reviewers recognized Brooks' versatility and craft as a poet. Yet, while noting her stylistic successes few of her contemporaries discussed the critical question of Brooks' relationship to the Harlem Renaissance. How had she addressed herself, as a poet, to the literary movement's assertion of the folk and African culture, and its promotion of the arts as the agent to define racial integrity?
The New Negro poets of the Harlem Renaissance expressed a deep pride in being Black; they found reasons for this pride in ethnic identity and heritage; and they shared a common faith in the fine arts as a means of defining and reinforcing racial pride. But in the literal expression of this impulse, the poets were either romantics, or realists and, quite often within the same poem, both. The realistic impulse, as defined best in the poems of McKay's Harlem Shadows (1922), was a sober reflection upon Blacks as second class citizens, segregated from the mainstream of American socio-economic life, and largely unable to realize the wealth and opportunity that America promised. The romantic impulse, on the other hand, as defined in the poems of Sterling Brown's Southern Road (1932), often found these unrealized dreams in the collective strength and will of the folk masses.
In comparing the poems in A Street in Bronzeville with various poems from the Renaissance, it becomes apparent that Brooks brings many unique contributions to bear on this tradition. The first clue that A Street In Bronzeville was, at its time of publication, unlike any other book of poems by a Black American is its insistent emphasis on demystifying romantic love between Black men and women. During the Renaissance, ethnic or racial pride was often focused with romantic idealization upon the Black woman. A casual streetwalker in Hughes' poem, "When Sue Wears Red," for example, is magically transformed into an Egyptian Queen. In A Street In Bronzeville, this romantic impulse runs headlong into the biting ironies of racial discrimination. There are poems in which Hughes, McKay and Brown recognize the realistic underside of urban life for Black women. But for Brooks, unlike the Renaissance poets, the victimization of poor Black women becomes not simply a minor chord but a predominant theme.
...Brooks' relationship with the Harlem Renaissance poets, as A Street in Bronzeville ably demonstrates, was hardly imitative. As one of the important links with the Black poetic tradition of the 1920s and 1930s, she enlarged the element of realism that was an important part of the Renaissance world-view. Although her poetry is often conditioned by the optimism that was also a legacy of the period, Brooks rejects outright their romantic prescriptions for the lives of Black women. And in this regard, she serves as a vital link with the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s that, while it witnessed the flowering of Black women as poets and social activists as well as the rise of Black feminist aesthetics in the 1970s, brought about a curious revival of romanticism in the Renaissance mode.
According to the passage, the poems in A Street in Bronzeville are similar to the poems in Harlem Shadows because they each:

  1. portray Black women in early twentieth-century America as resourceful individuals who were able to make successes of themselves.
  2. influenced the poetry and social activism of Black women poets during the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s.
  3. are based entirely on the romantic impulse of the New Negro poets of the Harlem Renaissance.
  4. illustrate the grim realities of suffering and discrimination faced by Black Americans in early twentieth- century America.

Answer(s): D

Explanation:

The answer here requires a link between the two paragraphs in which the two works are described. The "realistic impulse" in McKay's work (lines 17-18) parallels the realism credited to Brooks at the end of paragraph three.
Choice A is explicitly untrue about Harlem Shadows (lines 18-22).
The author makes no link between Harlem Shadows and the Black Arts Movement of the `60's; thus, choice B can be eliminated.
Choice C implies that Brooks was wholly in sync with Harlem Renaissance romanticism, which we know was not so.
Kaplan strategy: Don't over-think. Proceed to the relevant portion(s) of the text and take the clues you're given.



When Gwendolyn Brooks published her first collection of poetry A Street In Bronzeville in 1945 most reviewers recognized Brooks' versatility and craft as a poet. Yet, while noting her stylistic successes few of her contemporaries discussed the critical question of Brooks' relationship to the Harlem Renaissance. How had she addressed herself, as a poet, to the literary movement's assertion of the folk and African culture, and its promotion of the arts as the agent to define racial integrity?
The New Negro poets of the Harlem Renaissance expressed a deep pride in being Black; they found reasons for this pride in ethnic identity and heritage; and they shared a common faith in the fine arts as a means of defining and reinforcing racial pride. But in the literal expression of this impulse, the poets were either romantics, or realists and, quite often within the same poem, both. The realistic impulse, as defined best in the poems of McKay's Harlem Shadows (1922), was a sober reflection upon Blacks as second class citizens, segregated from the mainstream of American socio-economic life, and largely unable to realize the wealth and opportunity that America promised. The romantic impulse, on the other hand, as defined in the poems of Sterling Brown's Southern Road (1932), often found these unrealized dreams in the collective strength and will of the folk masses.
In comparing the poems in A Street in Bronzeville with various poems from the Renaissance, it becomes apparent that Brooks brings many unique contributions to bear on this tradition. The first clue that A Street In Bronzeville was, at its time of publication, unlike any other book of poems by a Black American is its insistent emphasis on demystifying romantic love between Black men and women. During the Renaissance, ethnic or racial pride was often focused with romantic idealization upon the Black woman. A casual streetwalker in Hughes' poem, "When Sue Wears Red," for example, is magically transformed into an Egyptian Queen. In A Street In Bronzeville, this romantic impulse runs headlong into the biting ironies of racial discrimination. There are poems in which Hughes, McKay and Brown recognize the realistic underside of urban life for Black women. But for Brooks, unlike the Renaissance poets, the victimization of poor Black women becomes not simply a minor chord but a predominant theme.
...Brooks' relationship with the Harlem Renaissance poets, as A Street in Bronzeville ably demonstrates, was hardly imitative. As one of the important links with the Black poetic tradition of the 1920s and 1930s, she enlarged the element of realism that was an important part of the Renaissance world-view. Although her poetry is often conditioned by the optimism that was also a legacy of the period, Brooks rejects outright their romantic prescriptions for the lives of Black women. And in this regard, she serves as a vital link with the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s that, while it witnessed the flowering of Black women as poets and social activists as well as the rise of Black feminist aesthetics in the 1970s, brought about a curious revival of romanticism in the Renaissance mode.
The passage suggests that the author would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements about the poetry of the Harlem Renaissance?

  1. The movement was inspired by a revival of folk and African culture.
  2. The Harlem Renaissance poets portrayed a common heritage in different ways.
  3. The movement has been widely criticized for its lack of realism.
  4. Brooks was more technically accomplished than other Harlem Renaissance poets.

Answer(s): B

Explanation:

Choice B is essentially a paraphrase of lines 11­14. Choice A is a plausible idea but outside the scope of the passage, which encompasses not how the Harlem Renaissance began but Brooks' relationship to it, so we can't be sure the author would agree.
Choice C falls outside the author's scope in that no reference is ever made to any critical assessment of the Harlem Renaissance.
Choice D is incorrect because to recognize and laud Brooks' "technical accomplishments" is not to raise her above other poets, and the author does not fault this dimension of the Harlem Renaissance.



When Gwendolyn Brooks published her first collection of poetry A Street In Bronzeville in 1945 most reviewers recognized Brooks' versatility and craft as a poet. Yet, while noting her stylistic successes few of her contemporaries discussed the critical question of Brooks' relationship to the Harlem Renaissance. How had she addressed herself, as a poet, to the literary movement's assertion of the folk and African culture, and its promotion of the arts as the agent to define racial integrity?
The New Negro poets of the Harlem Renaissance expressed a deep pride in being Black; they found reasons for this pride in ethnic identity and heritage; and they shared a common faith in the fine arts as a means of defining and reinforcing racial pride. But in the literal expression of this impulse, the poets were either romantics, or realists and, quite often within the same poem, both. The realistic impulse, as defined best in the poems of McKay's Harlem Shadows (1922), was a sober reflection upon Blacks as second class citizens, segregated from the mainstream of American socio-economic life, and largely unable to realize the wealth and opportunity that America promised. The romantic impulse, on the other hand, as defined in the poems of Sterling Brown's Southern Road (1932), often found these unrealized dreams in the collective strength and will of the folk masses.
In comparing the poems in A Street in Bronzeville with various poems from the Renaissance, it becomes apparent that Brooks brings many unique contributions to bear on this tradition. The first clue that A Street In Bronzeville was, at its time of publication, unlike any other book of poems by a Black American is its insistent emphasis on demystifying romantic love between Black men and women. During the Renaissance, ethnic or racial pride was often focused with romantic idealization upon the Black woman. A casual streetwalker in Hughes' poem, "When Sue Wears Red," for example, is magically transformed into an Egyptian Queen. In A Street In Bronzeville, this romantic impulse runs headlong into the biting ironies of racial discrimination. There are poems in which Hughes, McKay and Brown recognize the realistic underside of urban life for Black women. But for Brooks, unlike the Renaissance poets, the victimization of poor Black women becomes not simply a minor chord but a predominant theme.
...Brooks' relationship with the Harlem Renaissance poets, as A Street in Bronzeville ably demonstrates, was hardly imitative. As one of the important links with the Black poetic tradition of the 1920s and 1930s, she enlarged the element of realism that was an important part of the Renaissance world-view. Although her poetry is often conditioned by the optimism that was also a legacy of the period, Brooks rejects outright their romantic prescriptions for the lives of Black women. And in this regard, she serves as a vital link with the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s that, while it witnessed the flowering of Black women as poets and social activists as well as the rise of Black feminist aesthetics in the 1970s, brought about a curious revival of romanticism in the Renaissance mode.
The author most probably mentions Hughes' poem "When Sue Wears Red" (line 35­36) in order to:

  1. prove that Brooks had not simply imitated the Harlem Renaissance poets.
  2. highlight the critical role of the imagination in the creative process.
  3. contrast the irony of Brooks' poetry with the naiveté of earlier poetry.
  4. provide an example of the romanticized portrayal of Black women.

Answer(s): D

Explanation:

The key is line 37 "for example." The Hughes poem is explicitly meant to illustrate how Renaissance poets idealized Black women. This sets up the later contrast to Brooks' more "biting" approach.
Choice A has no connection to the structure mandated by "for example." Moreover, no reference to a Hughes poem can in and of itself "prove" anything about Brooks, making this an example of the "true but non- responsive" wrong answer choice. Choice B is a big time scope error ­ a highfalutin sentiment on general aesthetics that has no place in this tightly-organized discussion of Brooks and the Harlem Renaissance.
Choice C wrongly characterizes Hughes' romantic idealization of a streetwalker as "naive." Also, Brooks' work isn't painted as "ironic" in paragraph 3, just bitingly realistic.



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