1. Cassiodorus, who lived between 490 and 580, played an important role in medieval European culture. Initially, he worked in politics in Ostrogothic Italy, acting as a mediator between what were then considered barbarians and the Romano-Byzantine people. When Justinian reconquered Italy in 539, Cassiodorus’s career came to an abrupt end, forcing him into retirement at the Vivarium monastery in Calabria. From there, Cassiodorus translated several copies of Greek works and made copies of Latin works for educational purposes.
According to the passage, Cassadorus

2. The U.S. competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, with 527 competitors. The teams participated in 230 events spanning 27 different sports, winning 36 gold medals, 31 silver medals, and 27 bronze medals.
According to this passage,

3. Do you want to know why Florence Nightingale was the one person out of all the people of England to be asked to go? From her earliest childhood she was always doing what she could to help those who were in trouble. The poor and suffering appealed to her more than to most people. When quite young, she went to visit the poor and sick on her father’s estates, carrying to them some little dainties or flowers that they would be sure to like, and helping them to get well. All the animals around her home liked her, because they knew that she would not hurt them; even the shy squirrels would come quite close to her and pick up the nuts she dropped for them.
The main theme of this passage is

4. When Columbus landed on the island-fringe of America in 1492, he thought he had found what he had set out to find—the eastern country of India; and he believed it all his life. This idea survived for several generations, partly because of the great wealth of Mexico and Peru. When Europeans were at last convinced that it was not India, they began again to seek a way to the East, and looked on the continent of America merely as an obstacle in their path.
According to the passage, what did Columbus think he had found?

5. It looked old-fashioned, but not old, and was in perfect repair. When the sun shone down the beech avenue, which faced to the west, it turned the old bricks of the house into a sort of glorified ruddiness, blended of all the warmest tones—red and russet, and brown and orange, with a touch of black relieving it here and there. The effect in autumn, when all those warm tints which, by the alchemy of nature, bring beauty out of the chilly frost and unlovely decay—was as if all the colors in the rainbow had been poured forth; but all so toned and subdued by infinite gradation that the most violent notes of color were chastened into harmony.
The passage describes the house in what season?

6. Roads fell into disrepair, along with workshops, warehouses and irrigation systems, and agriculture declined. It was a technological regression in which the use of stone as a major building material diminished and wood made a comeback. The flow of town-dwellers returning to the countryside did not fill the gap left by demographic decline.
The society in this passage experienced

7. Roads in Rome were typically created for military use, and they were straight and paved. The Romans had exceptional technical knowledge that allowed them to create useful roadways. Compare that to the Middle Ages, when people used meandering earthen roads to haul goods to market, go to church, or travel to other areas for leisure.
After reading this passage, you can assume that

8. The New Learning was a phase of a greater movement called the Renaissance, which arose in Italy during the fourteenth century. The Renaissance marked the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of modern history. It meant rebirth, a new life. People took a new interest in living. The influence of the monk and of the knight was passing, and the man of affairs, with his broader sympathies, his keener vision, his more varied interests, and his love of liberty, was coming into prominence.
The Renaissance could be described as

9. Roads in Rome were typically created for military use, and they were straight and paved. The Romans had exceptional technical knowledge that allowed them to create useful roadways. Compare that to the Middle Ages, when people used meandering earthen roads to haul goods to market, go to church, or travel to other areas for leisure.
According to the passage, roads during the Middle Ages

10. In 1987 director Oliver Stone created Wall Street, a film that critiques the mindset of many high-stake players in the financial world: players who embrace a value system that places profits and wealth, “doing the deal,” and winning above all other considerations. In 2010 Stone released Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, which further develops and updates his indictment of self-centered, predatory trading practices that can take the entire world to the brink of a complete economic meltdown.
According to the passage, the second film focuses on

11. Do you want to know why Florence Nightingale was the one person out of all the people of England to be asked to go? From her earliest childhood she was always doing what she could to help those who were in trouble. The poor and suffering appealed to her more than to most people. When quite young, she went to visit the poor and sick on her father’s estates, carrying to them some little dainties or flowers that they would be sure to like, and helping them to get well. All the animals around her home liked her, because they knew that she would not hurt them; even the shy squirrels would come quite close to her and pick up the nuts she dropped for them.
According to the passage, Florence Nightingale was

12. Cassiodorus, who lived between 490 and 580, played an important role in medieval European culture. Initially, he worked in politics in Ostrogothic Italy, acting as a mediator between what were then considered barbarians and the Romano-Byzantine people. When Justinian reconquered Italy in 539, Cassiodorus’s career came to an abrupt end, forcing him into retirement at the Vivarium monastery in Calabria. From there, Cassiodorus translated several copies of Greek works and made copies of Latin works for educational purposes.
died in approximately

13. Washington’s Black Peak, part of the Cascade Range, lies in both the Stephen Mather Wilderness and the North Cascades National Park. It’s the 20th-highest peak in Washington, with 8,970 feet in elevation. Its prominence is 3,450 feet, making it the 35th-most prominent peak in the state. This non-volcanic mountain is a mecca for hikers and campers.
According to the passage, Black Peak is

14. Huns, invaders who were particularly feared, managed to advance right into Gaul, where their leader, Attila, a terrifying bogeyman to all Europeans except the Hungarians, was defeated by the Roman Aetius in the battle of the Catalaunian Fields, close to Troyes, and was then forced to withdraw.
Who defeated Attila?

15. Thiobenzophenone is an organosulfur compound; it is the prototypical thioketone. However, thiobenzophenone doesn’t dimerize to form rings and polymers like most other thioketones do; it’s actually very stable, despite the fact that it photoxidizes in air and forms sulfur and benzophenone.
From the passage, you can assume that

16. The history of a nation is influenced very largely by geographical facts. Its internal relations, whether friendly or hostile, are affected by these. Natural barriers, such as mountains, seas, or great lakes and rivers, are often political frontiers exerting protecting or isolating influence. Its industrial progress depends primarily upon its natural products—minerals, grains, woods, fish, etc., and the facilities which its structure affords for trade, both domestic and foreign. A sea coast, with satisfactory harbors, tends to produce a sea-faring people, and therefore a trading people.
According to the passage,

17. For the first time in my life I was confronted by the phenomenon of audible silence. When we had climbed the first flight of stairs, I added another discovery to my limited knowledge of natural phenomena—that of tangible darkness. A match showed us where the upward road continued. We went to the next floor and then to the next and the next until I had lost count and then there came still another floor, and suddenly we had plenty of light.
The author of this passage would probably agree that

18. In 1987 director Oliver Stone created Wall Street, a film that critiques the mindset of many high-stake players in the financial world: players who embrace a value system that places profits and wealth, “doing the deal,” and winning above all other considerations. In 2010 Stone released Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, which further develops and updates his indictment of self-centered, predatory trading practices that can take the entire world to the brink of a complete economic meltdown.
According to the films described in this passage, what can happen as a result of the actions of Wall Street’s high-stake players?

19. Even with the best manual in hand, you must not expect to be able to identify every new bird at the first attempt, for some species are either exceedingly shy or obscurely marked, or probably both, while quite a number are so much alike in markings and habits that it is hard to distinguish them from one another.
According to this passage,

20. The Mid-Continent Area Power Pool, or MAPP, was one of eight electric reliability councils that fell under the authority of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, or NERC. NERC and all of its subordinate councils were formed in 1965 after the event known as the “Northeast Blackout of 1965.”
According to the passage, you can assume that

21. The Yueshi culture, which flourished between 1900 BCE and 1500 BCE in the Shandong region of China, began in the Late Neolithic Period and lasted through the early Bronze Age. It was replaced by the Erligang culture. More than 340 Yueshi sites have been discovered and excavated in Shandong.
According to the passage, you can infer that

22. Nancy’s father, Irving, was an executive in a company that manufactured voting machines. Her mother, Patricia, was an interior designer who volunteered at the Home for the Blind. After reading a playwright’s autobiography at age 12, Nancy decided she was interested in theater and began to act in local stage productions; today, she’s a successful film director, producer and screenwriter.
According to this passage, what caused Nancy to begin acting in local theater?

23. Careful experiments have shown that when one body parts with its energy, the energy is not destroyed but transferred to another body or system of bodies. Just as energy cannot be destroyed, neither can it be created. If one body gains a certain amount of energy, some other body has lost an equivalent amount.
What might be a good title for this passage?

24. Before 1760 the manufacture of cotton goods was carried on in the homes of the people. A spinner would procure a supply of raw cotton from the dealer and carry it home, where, with the help of his family, he would spin it into threads or yarn and return it to the dealer. The spinning was all done by hand or foot-power on a wheel that required one person to run it, and that would make only one thread at a time.
A good title for this passage might be

25. Antimatter comets have never been observed by scientists, and they’re unlikely to exist anywhere in the Milky Way Galaxy. In the 1940s, Vladimir Rojansky hypothesized that antimatter comets would generate volatile compounds, and using the Stefan-Boltzmann law, that he could determine their existence by observing comets’ temperatures. Because of great technological advancement, which has fostered many new discoveries and theories, scientists today believe that antimatter comets are unlikely to exist at all.
The author of this passage would probably agree that