MCAT Exam #1 - Critical Reading –
with Complete Solutions
"The passage describes an irony of tourist-oriented voodoo, namely that:
A.mambos and houngans, although they are human, exert some influence on the
loas.
B.loas, although they are supreme beings, deign to inhabit the bodies of humans.
C.audiences who make the most effort to find authentic voodoo are least likely to
actually find it.
D.audiences are kept at a safe distance, which reinforces their lack of belief in the
powers of voodoo. - ANSWER - " "Solution: The correct answer is D.
The passage actually says that the mambos and houngans guide the aspirants, "as
they are possessed by the loas." It does not say that the mambos and houngans
necessarily "influence" the divine loas.
This is not an irony described in the passage, implicitly or explicitly.
The passage actually challenges the notion that there is one kind of 'authentic;
voodoo, arguing instead that "synthetic" versions of voodoo are also authentic, so
this is not a claim the passage makes.
This is a Comprehension question that tests your understanding of passage
information and of the presence of irony. The answer is D, because this is the only
option that accurately characterizes a passage claim. The tourist-oriented voodoo
that the author describes at Mariani does enforce a distance between the audience
and the ceremony, which the author suggests makes "inadvertent possession"
impossible. Thus, the way that the tourists experience voodoo (designed to meet
their expectations) reinforces their own pre-existing expectations about the limited
possibilities of voodoo, which is ironic.
"
"Suppose the author were asked to advise a newly independent nation about the
form of government it should establish. Based on the passage, the author would
probably recommend:
,A.a monarchy, in which decisions are made by one supreme leader.
B.a representative democracy, in which decisions are made by a limited number of
elected representatives.
C.a direct democracy, in which decisions are made by all the adults in the country.
D.an oligarchy, in which decisions are made by a small group of capable individuals.
- ANSWER - " "Solution: The correct answer is B.
The author wishes to avoid "oligarchy" and the sway of a powerful "orator" (first
paragraph), so it is clear that he prefers democratic values over the reign of a
supreme leader.
This is a Reasoning Beyond the Text question, because it asks you to apply
reasoning from the passage to a scenario that is not addressed in the passage. The
answer is B because the passage focuses on the problems inherent in a direct
democracy, in which "the masses" would govern themselves entirely. The author
worries about the susceptibility of crowds to passionate enthusiasms and the
tendency of very large groups to avoid "serious discussion or thoughtful
deliberations" (first paragraph). Based on the author's preference for smaller
assemblies rather than larger ones (paragraph 3) and his concern for the
impracticality of huge assemblies—coupled with a dislike of "oligarchy" or
domination in any form, the author would certainly recommend option B.
Much of the passage is devoted to discussions of the intellectual and practical
disadvantages of the political efforts of very large groups, so the author would not
recommend a direct democracy.
In the first paragraph, the author mentions the problem of failing to "guarantee
against the formation of" an oligarchy, so this is not the form of government that he
seeks.
"
"The statement that "if you preserve the trivial, then you must truly value the
serious" (paragraph 2) functions in the passage to:
A.demonstrate that the motives of souvenir hunters are superior to those of
biographers.
B.convey the author's belief about the motives of souvenir hunters.
C.explain the way souvenir hunters justify their enterprise to themselves.
D.suggest that souvenir hunting is more respectable than it might seem. - ANSWER
- " "Solution: The correct answer is C.
, The author actually considers all preoccupation with the artist herself—with her
biography, and with souvenirs of the author's body or life—to be equivalent. She
does not suggest that souvenir hunters are superior to biographers (or vice versa).
This statement does not provide evidence of the author's views of the souvenir
hunters' motives; the author gives perhaps the clearest hint of her theories about
their motives when she says, 'You may feel 'close' to a writer when you . . . examine
locks of his or her hair" (paragraph 6).
This is a Humanities passage that falls under the "Literature" content category. It is
a Reasoning Within the Text question because it asks you to evaluate the function of
a statement within the passage. The answer is C. The statement quoted in the
question is introduced this way: "It seems like proof of proper intent: If you preserve
the trivial, then you must truly value the serious." The author argues throughout
that readers should value an author's words over tangible objects or "souvenirs,"
and clearly does not endorse the statement quoted in the question. Instead, she
says that valuing souvenirs "seems like proof of proper intent." This implies that
those "who love art" believe or want to believe that their preoccupation with
tangible remnants of artists is evidence of their own seriousness of purpose.
The author does not use this statement to suggest anything about the
"respectability" of the souvenir hunters' motives.
"
"Herbert Gorman's 1939 biography of the writer James Joyce was written with
Joyce's cooperation and published in Joyce's lifetime. These facts would appear to
challenge which of the following assertions made in the passage?
A.Writers prefer that readers concentrate on the writer's work rather than read a
biography of the writer.
B.As they grow older, writers fear what will become of their reputation after death.
C.Biographies cannot explain the meaning of a writer's work.
D.Most readers are interested in reading about the lives of their favorite writers. -
ANSWER - " "Solution: The correct answer is A.
This is a Reasoning Beyond the Text question, because it introduces information that
is not in the passage and asks you to consider how that information would affect
passage claims. The answer is A, because the quotation describes a biography of
James Joyce that Joyce agreed to and saw published in his own lifetime. The
passage author argues that writers are usually uncomfortable with the prospect of
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