When thinking of intelligent animals, dolphins and elephants may be the first to come to mind.  However, researchers have observed octopuses to be startlingly brilliant creatures.  Octopuses have displayed curious behavior, such as pulling out loose tank valves, opening jars, and escaping their tanks when no one was watching.  In 2010, a German octopus named Paul was even said to have correctly predicted the outcome of all seven of Germany’s games during the South African World Cup.  Octopuses, of which the earth is home to about 300 distinct species, are cephalopods, and have exceptionally large brains for non-mammals. 

According to Jennifer Mather, a comparative psychologist at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, the quality that makes octopuses smart is their ability to apply learned information. For example, when given a mussel and a clam to eat, the octopus chose the mussel as they are easier to open. However, when offered clams on the half-shell, the octopus pivoted away from mussels– deciding to go with the new simplified option. These creatures proved capable of complex problem solving. When opening the shells, octopuses employed a variety of techniques, such as chipping away at the shell and injecting the clam with poison to weaken the mollusk, and even using their salivary papilla to drill a hole and inject the toxin. The octopuses chose which strategy to use based on which species they were presented with, and altered their approach to what would work best. As humans, this makes sense to us, but most animals would simply repeat the same technique, despite receiving the same results. 

Which of the following best summarizes paragraph 2?

When thinking of intelligent animals, dolphins and elephants may be the first to come to mind.  However, researchers have observed octopuses to be startlingly brilliant creatures.  Octopuses have displayed curious behavior, such as pulling out loose tank valves, opening jars, and escaping their tanks when no one was watching.  In 2010, a German octopus named Paul was even said to have correctly predicted the outcome of all seven of Germany’s games during the South African World Cup.  Octopuses, of which the earth is home to about 300 distinct species, are cephalopods, and have exceptionally large brains for non-mammals. 

According to Jennifer Mather, a comparative psychologist at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, the quality that makes octopuses smart is their ability to apply learned information. For example, when given a mussel and a clam to eat, the octopus chose the mussel as they are easier to open. However, when offered clams on the half-shell, the octopus pivoted away from mussels– deciding to go with the new simplified option. These creatures proved capable of complex problem solving. When opening the shells, octopuses employed a variety of techniques, such as chipping away at the shell and injecting the clam with poison to weaken the mollusk, and even using their salivary papilla to drill a hole and inject the toxin. The octopuses chose which strategy to use based on which species they were presented with, and altered their approach to what would work best. As humans, this makes sense to us, but most animals would simply repeat the same technique, despite receiving the same results. 

Which of the following best summarizes paragraph 2?

Dear Aunt Suzanne,

I have a few minutes before I get on the bus from Galway back to Dublin and wanted to tell you how my class trip to Ireland is going. We just spent 2 days on inis Mor, the largest of the Aran Islands, which are just off the central west coast of Ireland. We took a ferry from Galway, a ride that takes about an hour and was quite gray and stormy. For an island that is only about 12 square miles, there is a lot to do and see on this Mor! After eating steak and vegetable stew and brown bread with butter, we went to the sweater market, where all kinds of woolen products are sold.

The Aran Islands are known for their wool because sheep thrive here and generations have used woolen sweaters and hats to survive long cold days of fishing on the open sea. In fact, I learned that each family or clan has its own signature knitting pattern and some are able to tell which family someone belongs to by the pattern of their sweater! The healthy pattern is an interesting combination of twists and braids and I found you a birthday souvenir with a beautiful example. The next day, we rented bicycles and toured the island. We saw ancient rums, a prehistoric hill fort, and a white sand beach. We climbed down to a mysterious rock formation known as the “wormhole,” a rectangular hole in a stone shore that fills with thrashing waves ad looks like houses of a terrible serpent. The wormhole will be difficult to find, and when we stopped someone for directions, she only spoke Galect. Sometimes this island seems stuck in an earlier fame.

Which of the following sentences accurately summarizes the passage?

Hedy Lamarr was a woman of many talents. She was first known as a European film actress in the 1930s. She began starring in American films with MGM Studios in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Some of her more popular films included Boom Town (1940) and White Cargo (1942); however, her roles generally did not include very many spoken lines and she became bored. To relieve this boredom, Lamarr took up inventing.

Hedy Lamarr did not have any formal training, but she did not allow that to stop her from teaching herself in her spare time. Although she had a number of failed inventions, such as an improved traffic light and a carbonated drink, Lamarr did not stop coming up with ideas. She even spent time working with the science engineering team employed by Howard Hughes, the aviation tycoon.

During World War I, Lamarr learned that one of the military's new technologies, radio-controlled torpedoes, were too easily jammed and redirected. She came up with a type of radio signal that changed, or "hopped, frequencies and was unable to be tracked or disrupted. With the assistance of her friend George Anthell, she was able to design the system and patent it in August 1942.

Unfortunately, the United States Navy was not interested. The technology of the era wasn't quite good enough to easily implement Lamarr's system, and the Navy was not particularly interested in civilian inventions at the time. It wasn't until 20 years later, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, that a version of Lamarr's system began appearing on Navy ships.

The work Lamarr and Antheil did creating this frequency-hopping system led to many technologies that are often taken for granted today. Their work led to the development of cell phones, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. Just think, we might not have any of those things if Hedy Lamarr had been given more interesting roles

Which of the following sentences contains information that is important enough to be included in a summary of the passage?

This label appears on a bottle of over-the-counter cold medicine

"This medication should be used to treat mild respiratory infections. Do not take this product unless directed by a doctor if you have a long-term respiratory problem such as emphysema or chronic bronchitis."

Which of the following statements best summarizes the warning label?