Princeton Review Exams: CARS Questions And Well Detailed 100% Explained Answers.

What is the central thrust of the passage? A. During the Renaissance, women still experienced fewer opportunities than men to write and to receive a quality education. B. Changes in education during the Renaissance affected both the goals of, and the rewards available to, women writers. Correct Answer C. The conventional view of women's writing in the Renaissance is wrong. D. Lack of education was responsible for the scarcity of writing careers open to women during the Renaissance. - correct answer B. This is a Main Idea question. A: No. This choice is too narrow. The overall purpose of the passage is to discuss Renaissance women's writing in the context of opportunities offered by education, not to discuss inequality between men and women. B: Yes. This choice covers all of the major themes (changes in educational opportunities, their effects on both wealthy and non-wealthy women in terms of both career opportunities and personal fulfillment and satisfaction) without going beyond the boundaries of the passage. C: No. The passage focuses broadly on women's education and writing in the Renaissance, not simply on the notion that the conventional view of women's writing is wrong. D: No. This choice is too extreme and too narrow. In the first part of the passage, the author argues that opportunities depended on social position, not that opportunities were scarce overall; for some, "Renaissance education provided a stupendous opportunity for personal and professional growth, a means for the realization of their potential; their decisions to write and publish were their own and went far beyond the expectations placed upon them" (paragraph 1). Furthermore, this choice leaves out the author's discussion in paragraphs 2 and 3 of the meaning and value of education and writing for the women of the time. According to the passage, women's writing in the Renaissance depended in some ways more on social position than on gender itself. The author draws this conclusion by consideration of all of the following EXCEPT the: A. secularization of instruction. B. differences between men and women. Correct Answer C. study of classical antiquity. D. manifold opportunities of expression. - correct answer B. This is a Structure/EXCEPT question. A: No. See paragraph 1. The author does consider the secularization of instruction: "Judged by the traditional definition of the availability of education, the secularization of instruction, the study of the classical past,...the answer to this question depends more on the woman's social position...than on her sex." B: Yes. See the last paragraph. Since this is an EXCEPT question, the correct answer will NOT be something the author considered in order to make her claim about the role of social position. Although some comparison is drawn between male and female writers, the comparison is not used to draw the conclusion that social position was more important than gender. C: No. See paragraph 1. The author does mention the study of the classical past in the sentence that ends with "the answer to this question depends more on the woman's social position...than on her sex." D: No. See the second sentence of paragraph 1. The author does consider the manifold opportunities of expression in this context. The passage suggests that the opportunity for women of lesser means to write publicly during the Renaissance was: A. dependent upon their education. Your Answer B. greater than it had been during the Middle Ages. C. nearly equal to the opportunities afforded to more well-to-do women. D. largely confined to religious topics. Correct Answer - correct answer D. This is an Inference question. A: No. See the middle to the end of paragraph 1. The passage indicates that this opportunity depended upon a woman's status; consequently, her status affected the length of her education. B: No. See the middle to the end of paragraph 1. The Renaissance and Middle Ages are compared in the passage, not contrasted. C: No. See the middle to the end of paragraph 1. The passage states that, in contrast to wealthier women, women "of lesser means" could not continue their education when they became adults. D: Yes. See the middle to the end of paragraph 1. "A viable alternative" for less well-to-do women was to write religious literature, with "ecclesiastical sponsorship." A literary historian publishes an essay describing the greater opportunities available to married women as compared to single women in Renaissance aristocracy. This information would: A. support the author's claim that gender differences did not play an important role in women's writing. B. strengthen the author's claim that social position played an important role in women's writing. Correct Answer C. weaken the author's argument that level of education is the primary factor determining women's opportunity for literary self-expression. D. cast doubt on the author's implication that women who wrote within religious orders often had more opportunities than those who married and had children. - correct answer B. This is a New Information question. A: No. The author does not make this claim in the passage. The argument that social position plays an important role does not imply that gender differences did not as well. B: Yes. The author claims that most single women had little access to patronage (paragraph 1), nor did they have many opportunities to pursue literary careers. The essay described in the question would give further evidence that social (including marital) status affected the literary opportunities open to women. C: No. First, this statement is too extreme to be a claim made by the author. While she does describe education as an important factor, she does not claim that it is the primary factor. Second, even if this was a claim made by the author, it would not be inconsistent with the new information in the question stem. D: No. The author does not imply this to be true (and even if she did, it would not be inconsistent with the new information in the question stem). The passage indicates that BOTH membership in religious institutions and marriage provided advantages to women, not that the former offered more opportunities than the latter. The author suggests that the ability of women to contribute as writers is particularly significant because it provides: A. an outlet for publicizing women's issues. B. an alternative to traditional male perspectives. C. a forum in which women may assert social power equal to men's. Correct Answer D. an entry for women to participate in other fields. - correct answer C. This is an Inference question. A: No. The author does not suggest that women wrote to publicize "women's issues." This choice is out of scope. B: No. See the last paragraph. The author suggests that it is the equality of male and female voices in writing that is significant, not the replacement of male perspectives with female perspectives. C: Yes. See the last paragraph. The author suggests that writing is a form of "social power." Thus, in male-dominated Renaissance society, women's contributions assert their desire for equality to men. D: No. The author does not discuss writing as a vehicle for women to participate in other fields. This choice is out of scope. Which of the following statements, if true, would NOT undermine the author's differentiation between the opportunities available to wealthy and non-wealthy women during the Renaissance? A. The percentage increase in the number of published female authors from privileged backgrounds during the Renaissance was less than the percentage increase in the female population. Your Answer B. Recent scholarship has shown that there were many more secular employment opportunities made available to women of lesser means in this era than previously believed. C. Women not born to public positions during and after the Renaissance could sometimes find employment writing religious essays. Correct Answer D. Documentation of the true income level of women during the Renaissance is spotty and often unreliable. - correct answer C. This is a Weaken/NOT question. Note: The correct answer will be the choice that does not weaken the relevant part of the passage: that is, one that either strengthens or has no impact on the author's argument. A: No. The author claims that wealthy women's increased educational opportunities offered professional rewards as well, including those involved in writing and publishing (paragraph 1). This was not true, according to the author, for less wealthy women (those "not born to public position"). This answer choice suggests that any increase in publications from wealthy women could be attributed to a population increase rather than to increased opportunities. Therefore, it would somewhat weaken the claim that the two groups were different along these lines. Make sure to compare choices to each other; while this answer does not have a huge negative impact on the argument it is at least somewhat inconsistent, while choice C is entirely consistent with the author's claims. B: No. See the explanation for A. This choice would weaken the claim that education was more likely to lead to professional opportunities for wealthy women than for women of lesser means. C: Yes. This choice is consistent with the author's argument at the end of paragraph 1 as well as in paragraph 3. D: No. This choice weakens the author's argument by calling her evidence or data into question. Which of the following statements best summarizes the central issue addressed by the passage? A. People tend to drive the way they live. B. Knowledge about how to maximize safety while driving remains incomplete, which contributes to the occurance of unnecessary accidents. C. Driving entails a complex array of tasks and issues, not all of which have been fully understood or addressed.Correct Answer D. Because of the extreme complexity of driving, more study is needed to improve legal and technological safeguards. - correct answer C. This is a Main Idea question. A: No. While this is a statement cited in the last paragraph, the author goes on to disagree with it: "However, the reasons why how one lives might be linked to how one drives are not clear. The interesting question is not whether some of us are more prone to act like homicidal maniacs once we get behind the wheel but why we all act differently. What is going on seems less to do with different personalities than with our entire being." B: No. This choice is too narrow to be the central issue of the passage. While the author does imply that this is true, safety is only one of the issues addressed in the passage. C: Yes. This choice covers all of the main themes of the passage, and includes the appropriate tone (lack of full understanding). Paragraph 1 states that we are only beginning to understand the full scope of what is entailed in driving. Paragraph 2 discusses how new technology may affect best driving practices, but we don't know exactly how. Paragraph 3 deals with mirrors and how practices differ, but that we don't know what is best. Paragraph 4 discusses how our habits have advantages but also disadvantages, and paragraph 5 states that "the reasons why how one lives might be linked to how one drives are not clear." D: No. This choice is half right but half wrong. Yes, the author indicates that driving is very complex, but he does not call for more study (the passage only points out that we do not currently have a full understanding), and there is no suggestion of a call for legal or regulatory changes. Make sure to stay within the scope of the passage. The author mentions air bags in order to: A. give an example of a technological response to the dangers involved in driving in heavy traffic. B. illustrate why common advice regarding driving is wrong. C. give an example of how new technology has made driving more complicated. Correct Answer D. illustrate how a false sense of safety can make us drive more dangerously. - correct answer C. This is a Structure question. A: No. This is an outside knowledge trap. This may be true in reality, but it is not supported by passage information. The author never actually discusses technology as a response to danger. In paragraph 2 where the author mentions air bags, the theme is how a variety of technologies (including cell phones and navigation systems) have called into question standard driving advice. B: No. This is a tempting answer, but it is too extreme. The author does not say that the standard "10 and 2" advice is wrong. He only suggests that air bags have raised the question of whether or not it is now overly dangerous.