Yueming zipped up her warmest coat for the walk home from school and pushed through the double doors. No new snow had fallen since the weekend, when  back-to-back (1) snowy blizzards had turned Philadelphia into a place she did not recognize, the view out her apartment window at the time more amazing with each passing hour. 

The New Year’s festivities, fifteen days of (2) it, were half  over and still her family had not arrived from China, delayed by the storms. 

The cold (3) air snapped Yueming out of an afternoon daze. At the corner of Tenth and Winter, someone had cleared the snow in front of the mural, one of the several that were part of Yueming’s daily commute. This one (4) The History of Chinatown, looked especially bright today, the sun’s reflection off the (5) snow, working some magic with the colors.

There, in paint, Chinese immigrants worked their jobs, one bent over a clothes iron, (6) others caught up in railroad construction, and a giant figure on the horizon, his gaze locked on the passerby. In the lower left-hand corner, a child no bigger than Wei tugged at a kite in a schoolyard.

As many times as she had seen them, these figures still caught Yueming (7) off guard, incongruous as they were—motionless—with the rush of (8) Philadelphia’s urban city traffic heading for the Vine Street Expressway.

Mother and Wei would come (9) tomorrow after this visit, their next one would be for Yueming’s graduation. [A] (10) Having to  tell them soon, tomorrow, (11) over her decision to stay, that she would not be coming home to China. [B] She would (12) remain instead in this world, familiar and new. [C] Suddenly, laughter turned the corner in her (13) direction. It belonged to a small group of young men, each carrying a piece of a giant dragon. [D] She would see the toothy, quaking creature in all (14) it’s festive entirety the following evening with her family. But now, Yueming hesitated under the arch that opened into Chinatown. As the traffic light changed and changed again, she watched the distance grow between herself and the undone dragon, color bobbing on a cityscape of snow. [15]

The following paragraphs may or may not be in the most logical order. Each paragraph is numbered in brackets, and question 30 will ask you to choose where Paragraph 3 should most logically be placed.

[1]

Marine dives offer scientists invaluable chances to study sea life firsthand. [16] Yet the limited time divers may remain underwater—often no more than two hours— (17) has led scientists to call for robots able to help conduct observations (18) in an assistive capacity. Complex functions like detecting chemicals and mapping (19) topography, and these have already been implemented in robots with wide success. The bigger challenge is teaching a robot to swim.

[2]

Powerful thrusters have helped some robots (20) surge through the depths. Such (21) equipment, however can alarm or even harm sea life. The engineers developing the robot AQUA2 imagined a robot able to use advanced imaging (22) and electromechanical systems. To do so, it would need to swim as naturally as a fish, a squid, or—as it turned out—a turtle.

[3]

AQUA2 has also proved remarkably well adapted to land. Its flippers reverse direction in shallow water, (23) pushing the robot up onto sturdy, arched legs. The legs [24] propel the robot out of the surf. Rubber treads on each leg allow AQUA2 to scale sand dunes or snowbanks, making the robot as suitable for studiesin the Caribbean (25) as well as those in the Arctic.

[4]

Like its biological counterpart, AQUA2 has flippers that allow it to glide through the water, dive to the ocean floor, and ascend from the bottom. Unlike thruster-powered robots,(26) AQUA2 can make subtle changes in course simply by altering the positions of its flippers.

By holding two flippers (27) still, as it gently paddles, with the other four, for example, the robot can “hover” in place underwater. This (28) exquisite competency will allow it to avoid disturbing the sea life it is designed to observe.

[5]

Now, AQUA2 faces a new challenge; even more tricky than reacting to different terrains is interacting with human divers. During field tests amid busy coral reefs in Barbados and (29) the silty beds of lakes in Canada, AQUA2 practices following divers’ instructions. Soon, scientists may be able to conduct more frequent, more efficient dives with robotic partners at their sides.

Covering 173,000 acres of clear water and dozens of islands off the tip of Florida, Biscayne National Park features (31) many unusual species of plants. Today, the park is a refuge for sea turtles, manatees, and alligators. In the 1960s, though, land developers saw commercial potential for the area. Some wanted to build an oil refinery. [A] Others, because of Biscayne Bay’s natural beauty, wanted beach resorts. (32) However, Lancelot Jones, one of two year- round residents, of the islands wanted to preserve the bay.

[2]

(33) Porgy Key had always been home for Jones, a small island in Biscayne Bay. His father had purchased the land for $300 in (34) 1897, and Jones grew up there, cultivating pineapples and Key limes. (35) Therefore, in 1935, Jones began guiding fishing trips; his knowledge of fishing earned him the reputation for being the area’s best fishing guide. [B] Among his clientele were several US (36) presidents, including: Hoover, Kennedy, and Nixon.

[3]

[1] In 1961, fourteen of the eighteen landowners came to Biscayne Bay and voted to found a city on the bay’s islands to expedite commercial development of the land. [2] Jones abstained from voting. [3] He refused to sell his (37) land because he wanted the area to be conserved. [38]

[4]

Jones wasn’t (39) alone, some Florida residents, and frequent visitors sought to preserve Biscayne Bay by turning it into a national park. Their efforts were furthered by Miami Herald reporter Juanita Greene, whose articles helped sway public opinion. [C] Finally, in 1968, President Johnson signed a bill that put the bay under federal protection. [40]

[5]

First to sell (41) their land to the National Park (42) Service was Lancelot Jones, who was permitted to remain on Porgy Key. (43) Since he still led fishing trips, and he taught schoolchildren about the environment of Biscayne Bay. [D] In exchange for teaching each class, he asked only for a Key lime pie (44) in return for the class. Jones lived alone, but he said, “When you have plenty of interests, like the water and the woods, the birds and the fish, you don’t get lonely.

In June of 1995, (46)  due to NASA technicians inspecting the space shuttle Discovery for an upcoming launch found over two hundred punctures in a fuel tank. Video surveillance revealed the culprits; two northern flickers, a species of woodpecker, (47) was attempting to excavate a nest in the fuel tank’s foam insulation. Upon striking the solid metal beneath, the flickers would stubbornly choose a new spot and try again. [48]

[1] In the northern United States, where most flickers return each summer to mate and raise broods, the (49) birds’ persistence is well known.

[2] (50) By lacking a distinct song, flickers drum their beaks against hard surfaces to announce themselves to mates. [3] The louder the noise an object makes, the more attractive it is to flickers. [4] Among their favorite noisemakers are drainpipes, TV antennas, and even farm equipment. [5] At the Kennedy Space Center in (51) Florida, though the flickers’ persistence seemed mysterious. [6] Worse, it posed a serious risk.

[7] (52) For solid metal to stop the birds from trying to nest at the launch site, how could NASA prevent damage to (53) its equipment and keep the species safe? [54]

NASA put together a committee, dubbed the Bird Investigation Review and Deterrent (BIRD) team, to consult with wildlife experts. After learning that flickers seek out soft, rotted wood when excavating nests, the team recommended the removal of dead trees from the area. (55) For instance, upon learning that flickers forage for food on the ground, BIRD (56) determined that tidy lawns made crawling insects easily visible. The team advised NASA to let the grass grow (5) long to give the birds the impression that food was hard to catch. [58]

Other, less subtle strategies were implemented to ensure that the birds didn’t settle in. Deterred by plastic owls and floating balloons,(59)  alternatively, the flickers soon left for new territory. Their visit to the launchpad, however, was not soon forgotten. Discovery’s successful launch was delayed five weeks while workers flocked to repair the fuel tank the flickers had favored.

The following paragraphs may or may not be in the most logical order. Each paragraph is numbered in brackets, and question 74 will ask you to choose where Paragraph 3 should most logically be placed.

[1]

The late German choreographer Pina Bausch once said, “I am not interested in how people move, but what moves them.” Indeed, Bausch did not even consider herself a choreographer, but rather a kind of director. Her Tanztheater, translated “dance theater,” pieces received international acclaim for (61) those expressive, unconventional style and the often-raw (62) emotional feelings they portrayed.

[2]

When Bausch began her formal dance education in 1955, Expressionism was again the dominant style. Bausch followed the Expressionists’ lead (and that of other dance pioneers like Martha Graham from the ’20s). She tackled existential themes—identity, alienation, romantic entanglements, suffering—portrayed through intense, sometimes violent, movements. 

[3]

By the (63) 1920s and up until the onset of World War II. German art was flourishing and had turned to the abstract. Expressionism, as it was called, [64] replaced representational, or literal, modes of painting. Bausch, born in 1940, (65) having grown up in postwar Germany. The country was attempting to rebuild its economy, its infrastructure, and even (66) the country’s national identification after the fall of Hitler’s regime. German (67) artists, of whom work was previously suppressed by the Nazi party, could (68) refresh without fear. They began to depict the country’s fragile state in their work.

[4]

A Bausch piece may include any number of dancers of any age. Dancers’ emotions are conveyed through gestures (69) —joy, passion, grief—that range from subtle to explosive, stationary to dynamic. In Café Müller, one of her most famous works, dancers stumble across the stage, crashing into tables and chairs. Rite of Spring begins with a (70) dancer lying prostrate on a (71) stage, covered entirely with soil.

[5]

Travel to places such as Turkey, Portugal, and India (72) have informed much of Bausch’s work. (73) She, often, incorporated, and combined dance traditions from the East and West, inspiring future choreographers. Her lasting influence lives on through revivals of her work. [74][75]