Blog

This passage suggests that the author probably believes that

Most traditional bookstores opened for one purpose to sell books.  However, present-day owners know that readers want more than to drop in, find a book, buy it, and leave.  Today’s patrons want to browse, to wander among the various shelves and tables, and to sample the wares.  And they want more than books.  Therefore, large bookstores across the United States now cater to the many desires of their diverse clientele. Of course these bookstores do stock books.  As customers enter, they find tables and shelves of the latest fiction and nonfiction.  Small islands offer a large variety of classic and not-so-classic book “bargains.”  As browsers roam the store, they find sections on history, business, science, sports, foreign language, computers, and much, much more.  They pass collections of classic literature in English and in Russian, Italian, Hebrew, Swahili.  Parents find impressive collections of children’s books.  In brief, “new” bookstores stock books to satisfy the various tastes of almost anyone who comes to browse. But browsers want more than books.  Therefore, these stores stock a large variety of newspapers and magazines.  These periodicals reflect the variety of interests of our diverse population.  The newspapers carry news from cities across the United States and from capitals in Europe, South America, and Africa.  In addition to news and culture, the racks feature magazines about cars, animals, fitness, foods, even dolls. Browsers want to pull books and magazines off the shelves and read them right there and then.  To facilitate reading, these bookstores provide creature comforts.  Excellent lighting, for example, allows patrons to read anywhere in the store.  Wide aisles with easy chairs let the patron relax and read or even snooze.  Tables and chairs give the student writing a research paper a solid writing surface and room to spread books, magazines, and newspapers. No pushy salesperson bothers any patron.  Rather, courteous, well-informed store clerks stationed at a central “resource island” eagerly answer questions.  Also, by using their computers, they can tell a customer whether the store has a copy of a particular book or whether that book is still available.  Upon request they can and will order any book. Finally, hungry, thirsty, or exhausted book lovers or patrons who meet friends or new acquaintances as they browse can relax and enjoy the small café that serves a variety of cakes or bagels or sweet rolls and several kinds of coffee, tea, and soft drinks.  The cafe tables allow clientele to eat quietly or to eat and read or to eat and chat. Conversations in the café might be in English about soccer or Paris or anything else, but they might instead be in Spanish, French, Japanese, or one of numerous other foreign tongues.  It is likely that part of any conversation will include praise for the nontraditional bookstore for serving the myriad wants and even fancies of the diverse public who come to browse and, perhaps, to buy. Identify the relationship between these two sentences in paragraph 3. But browsers want more than books.  Therefore, these stores stock a large variety of newspapers and magazines.  

When you think about people-watching, you usually envision the crowds at a mall or at a park, but most of the strangers you see who parade by you each day are not on foot.  They’e in their cars.   Although you can guess a lot about other people whom you see walking by from observing their clothes, their behavior, or even their bearing it is by their cars that you can tell the most about people that you’ve never seen. Economic status can be accurately divined from the expense of the vehicles that people drive.  That smooth gliding, huge new Towncar must have someone successful behind the wheel.  That sporty utility vehicle, new but inexpensive, most likely is being driven by a college student.  And that white, smoke belching, rusted-out jalopy you quickly pass to avoid asphyxiation undoubtedly that driver can ill afford replacing the old junker and will soon have no wheels at all. Political beliefs and community involvement often show up on bumper stickers, as do philosophies and religious affiliations, not to mention attitudes towards free speech and boundaries of good taste.  Window decals and rear view mirror danglings denote cultural subgroups, while Baby on Board or Caution:  Show Dog signs delineate the drivers personal commitments. Momentary vehicular encounters can provide opportunities for psychoanalyzing drivers.  The Type A sort who tailgates you or passes you dangerously close to the double line is either chronically late or running on caffeine or competitive aggression.  The oh-so-polite people who wave everyone in ahead of you in bumper-to-bumper traffic must be similarly attentive to the needs of others in their lives.  The chatty cell phone drivers must not be able to live very long in isolation without social interaction, gossip, or business dealings.  And the oh-so-slow Sunday driver must be functioning on a different plane of meditation than the rest of us who proceed at the usual hasty pace. External attachments can reveal hobbies and leisure interests from bike racks to boat trailer hitches; if the drivers tote equipment, you can gauge how they spend their weekends and their disposable cash.  But the easiest clue as to the drivers identity comes in the form of an audio rather than a visual cue.  If you’re waiting at a stoplight, and you can feel the vibrations of the bass stereo from behind you, the driver is most likely under thirty years of age. Some argue that the automobile has increased our sense of anonymity, our feeling that we are all alike anonymous humanoids driving like robots in identical comfort capsules.  Not me.  As long as people can use their personal chariots as extensions of themselves and as billboards of self-expression, the driving experiences of our lives can tell us a lot about who else is out there, where they’re coming from and even where everyone is going. In this passage, the author is biased in favor of

Find the LCM of 5, 12, and 6.

“On the other hand, people could allow themselves to be propelled into risky choices. For example, “I know that I got C’s in General Chemistry and Calculus, but I really need to take Organic Chemistry and Physics together this semester, otherwise I will be behind schedule.” The relationship between the two sentences is

Passage 3:Students who fail to graduate from high school face a very bleak future. Because the basic skills conveyed in high school and higher education are essential for success in today’s economy, students who do not receive these skills are likely to suffer with significantly reduced earnings and employment prospects. Among those over 25 years old who failed to complete high school or receive a GED, 55% report no earnings in the 1999 Current Population Survey of the U.S. Census compared to 25% of those with at least a high school degree or GED. For people reporting any earnings, the average income for those who left school without a high school diploma or GED is $15,334. However, for people with at least a high school degree or GED, the average income is $29,294.  Students who fail to graduate high school are also significantly more likely to become single parents and have children at young ages. And students who do not graduate high school are significantly more likely to rely upon public assistance (welfare) or be in prison than students who do graduate from high school.  In short, high school graduation is a very important predictor of young people’s life prospects. High school graduation rates are, therefore, also an important measure of the performance of our public school system. The better able schools are to provide students with the skills necessary to complete high school, the more successful the school system is.  Given the strength of the relationship between high school graduation and students’ life prospects, graduation rates are at least as important as test scores in assessing the performance of our school system. Yet graduation rates have not received nearly as much attention as national test scores.Based on the information in this passage, the reader can conclude that people with a high school diploma or GED

“This capacity for learning how to learn includes constructing effective mental models of knowledge and resources, even though the models may be based on complex and changing information. “The relationship between the two parts of the sentence above is

Passage 1:Successful students are engaged in the process of learning. Students who are connected to the learning process have the following characteristics: Responsible: Students take charge of their own learning and are self-regulated. They define learning goals and problems that are meaningful to them; understand how specific activities relate to those goals; and, using standards of excellence, evaluate how well they have achieved the goals. Successful, engaged learners also have explicit measures and criteria for assessing their work as well as benchmark activities, products, or events for checking their progress toward achieving their goals. Passionate: Engaged learners find excitement and pleasure in learning. They possess a lifelong passion for solving problems and understanding ideas or concepts. To such students, learning is intrinsically motivating. Strategic: Engaged learners continually develop and refine learning and problem-solving strategies. This capacity for learning how to learn includes constructing effective mental models of knowledge and resources, even though the models may be based on complex and changing information. Engaged learners can apply and transfer knowledge in order to solve problems creatively and they can make connections at different levels. Collaborative: Engaged learners understand that learning is social. They are able to see themselves and ideas as others see them, can articulate their ideas to others, have empathy for others, and are fair-minded in dealing with contradictory or conflicting views. They have the ability to identify the strengths and intelligences of themselves and others. Which of the following best describes the pattern of organization of this passage?

“In college, your professors are expecting you to voice your thoughts. Thus, disagreeing (politely of course) with the professor’s opinion is considered an interesting debate, not deviant behavior that will land you in detention.”The relationship between the two sentences above is

The United States relied on support from the United Nations Security Council in 2003 to enforce international rules that prohibited Iraq from acquiring weapons of mass destruction.