ISEE Upper Level Reading : Textual Relationships in Science Passages
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Example Question #491 : Act Reading
Adapted from “Feathers of Sea Birds and Wild Fowl for Bedding” from The Utility of Birds by Edward Forbush (ed. 1922)
In the colder countries of the world, the feathers and down of waterfowl have been in great demand for centuries as filling for beds and pillows. Such feathers are perfect non-conductors of heat, and beds, pillows, or coverlets filled with them represent the acme of comfort and durability. The early settlers of New England saved for such purposes the feathers and down from the thousands of wild-fowl which they killed, but as the population increased in numbers, the quantity thus furnished was insufficient, and the people sought a larger supply in the vast colonies of ducks and geese along the Labrador coast.
The manner in which the feathers and down were obtained, unlike the method practiced in Iceland, did not tend to conserve and protect the source of supply. In Iceland, the people have continued to receive for many years a considerable income by collecting eider down, but there they do not “kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.” Ducks line their nests with down plucked from their own breasts and that of the eider is particularly valuable for bedding. In Iceland, these birds are so carefully protected that they have become as tame and unsuspicious as domestic fowls In North America. Where they are constantly hunted they often conceal their nests in the midst of weeds or bushes, but in Iceland, they make their nests and deposit their eggs in holes dug for them in the sod. A supply of the ducks is maintained so that the people derive from them an annual income.
In North America, quite a different policy was pursued. The demand for feathers became so great in the New England colonies about the middle of the eighteenth century that vessels were fitted out there for the coast of Labrador for the express purpose of securing the feathers and down of wild fowl. Eider down having become valuable and these ducks being in the habit of congregating by thousands on barren islands of the Labrador coast, the birds became the victims of the ships’ crews. As the ducks molt all their primary feathers at once in July or August and are then quite incapable of flight and the young birds are unable to fly until well grown, the hunters were able to surround the helpless birds, drive them together, and kill them with clubs. Otis says that millions of wildfowl were thus destroyed and that in a few years their haunts were so broken up by this wholesale slaughter and their numbers were so diminished that feather voyages became unprofitable and were given up.
This practice, followed by the almost continual egging, clubbing, shooting, etc. by Labrador fishermen, may have been a chief factor in the extinction of the Labrador duck, that species of supposed restricted breeding range. No doubt had the eider duck been restricted in its breeding range to the islands of Labrador, it also would have been exterminated long ago.
Which of the following did NOT contribute to the success and profitability of the Labrador feather voyages?
After the ducks being hunted lost their feathers, they could not fly
Fledgling ducks cannot fly
Ducks gathered in great numbers on islands on the coast of Labrador
When hunted, ducks attempt to conceal their nests in the surrounding vegetation.
The ducks hunted lost all of their main feathers at one time in the summer
When hunted, ducks attempt to conceal their nests in the surrounding vegetation.
In the passage’s third paragraph, the author writes, “As the ducks molt all their primary feathers at once in July or August and are then quite incapable of flight and the young birds are unable to fly until well grown, the hunters were able to surround the helpless birds drive them together and kill them with clubs.” This sentence tells readers that the Labrador feather voyages were helped by the fact that “ducks lose all their feathers at one time in the summer,” “after the ducks being hunted lost their feathers, they could not fly,” and “fledgling ducks cannot fly,” so none of these answer choices can be correct. This leaves us with the answer choices “Ducks gathered in great numbers on islands on the coast of Labrador” and “When hunted, ducks attempt to conceal their nests in the surrounding vegetation.” The latter of these is the correct answer; the fact that “Ducks gathered in great numbers on islands on the coast of Labrador” helped the voyages profit, but “When hunted, ducks attempt to conceal their nests in the surrounding vegetation” has nothing to do with the Labrador feather voyages. This detail is presented when describing the Icelandic practices of gathering eider down, and at any rate, would not be helpful to the voyages, as the ducks would hide their nests and likely themselves.
Example Question #2 : Main Idea, Details, Opinions, And Arguments In Narrative Science Passages
"Comparing Technologies: A Difficult Endeavor" by Matthew Minerd (2014)
Comparisons of technology are often difficult to make, not only because of the rapid pace of improvements but also because of the many new applications that are available as time progresses. If we were to consider the contemporary graphing calculator and the calculation capacities of computing machines from fifty years ago, there would be astounding improvements between these two devices. However, the improvements are not reduced merely to speed improvements. A graphing calculator also has numerous output capacities that far exceed those available much older computers, none of which had the ability to represent their output in any manner even closely resembling that of contemporary devices. Merely consider the display capacities of such a device. These enable users to input many new kinds of information, enabling design engineers to design new hardware functions to match the new means of collecting user input.
The situation is even more obvious when one considers the numerous functions performed by a modern “smartphone.” These devices are equipped with a panoply of features. With all of these new functions come many new types of computational capabilities as well. In order to process images quickly, specialized hardware must be designed and software written for it in order to ensure that there are few issues with the phone’s operation. Indeed, the whole “real time” nature of telecommunications has exerted numerous pressures on the designers of computing devices. Layers of complexity, at all levels of production and development, are required to ensure that the phone can function in a synchronous manner. Gone are the days of asynchronous processing, when the computer user entered data into a mainframe, only to wait for a period of time before the processing results were provided. Today, even the smallest of digital devices must provide seamless service for users. The effects of this requirement are almost beyond number.
What is the effect of the features found on modern “smartphones”?
They require many new types of technological advancements to accommodate them.
None of the other answers
They wear out old equipment, requiring newer, faster processors.
They overwhelm the customer with options all on one screen.
They require increased memory capacities to accommodate their advancements.
They require many new types of technological advancements to accommodate them.
Although the whole of the second paragraph helps to answer this question, a key sentence is, "With all of these new functions come many new types of computational capabilities as well." The effect of the new capabilities is to require many different kinds of new capabilities for the software and hardware of phones. That is, many new technological advances are required in order to make them possible and more efficient.
Example Question #11 : Locating Details In Narrative Science Passages
Adapted from "Bats" by W. S. Dallas in A Book of Natural History (1902, ed. David Starr Jordan)
Like the owls, with which they share the dominion of the evening air, the bats have a perfectly noiseless flight; their activity is chiefly during the twilight, although some species are later, and in fact seem to keep up throughout the whole night. As they rest during the day, concealed usually in the most inaccessible places they can find, and are seen only upon the wing, their power of flight is their most striking peculiarity in the popular mind, and it is perhaps no great wonder that by many people, both in ancient and modern times, they have been regarded as birds. Nevertheless, their hairy bodies and leathery wings are so unlike anything that we ordinarily understand as pertaining to a bird, that opinion was apparently always divided, as to the true nature of these creatures—“a mouse with wings,” as Goldsmith called it once, according to James Boswell, is certainly a curious animal, and very difficult to classify so long as the would-be systematist has no particularly definite ideas to guide him. The likeness of the bat to a winged mouse has made itself felt in the name given to the creature in many languages, such as the “chauvesouris” of the French and the “flitter-mouse” of some parts of England, the latter being reproduced almost literally in German, Dutch, and Swedish, while the Danes called the bat a “flogenmues,” which has about the same meaning.
Why does the author believe many people have long regarded bats as birds?
Because bats lay eggs
Because bats live atop trees and on the roof of caves
Because bats have feathers
Because bats live in nests
Because bats can fly
Because bats can fly
This is a relatively simple detail-based question. The author says, "their power of flight is their most striking peculiarity in the popular mind, and it is perhaps no great wonder that by many people, both in ancient and modern times, they have been regarded as birds.” So, it is clear that the author believes many people have considered bats to be a bird because bats can also fly.
Example Question #1 : Locating Details In Narrative Science Passages
Adapted from "The Man-Like Apes" by T. H. Huxley in A Book of Natural History (1902, ed. David Starr Jordan)
The orangutan is found only in Sumatra and Borneo, and is common in either of these islands—in both of which it occurs always in low, flat plains, never in the mountains. It loves the densest and most sombre of the forests, which extend from the seashore inland, and thus is found only in the eastern half of Sumatra, where alone such forests occur, though, occasionally, it strays over to the western side. On the other hand, it is generally distributed through Borneo, except in the mountains, or where the population is dense. In favorable places the hunter may, by good fortune, see three or four in a day.
Except in the pairing time, the old males usually live by themselves. The old females and the immature males, on the other hand, are often met with in twos and threes, and the former occasionally have young with them, though the pregnant females usually separate themselves, and sometimes remain apart after they have given birth to their offspring. The young orangs seem to remain unusually long under their mother’s protection, probably in consequence of their slow growth. While climbing, the mother always carries her young against her bosom, the young holding on by the mother’s hair. At what time of life the orangutan becomes capable of propagation, and how long the females go with young is unknown, but it is probable that they are not adult until they arrive at ten or fifteen years of age. A female which lived for five years at Batavia had not attained one-third the height of the wild females. It is probable that, after reaching adult years, they go on growing, though slowly, and that they live to forty or fifty years. The Dyaks tell of old orangs that have not only lost all their teeth, but which find it so troublesome to climb that they maintain themselves on windfalls and juicy herbage.
Why is the orangutan found only in the eastern half of Sumatra?
Because this is where the orangutans can find the most food
Because this is the furthest away from human settlements
Because this is where the thickest forest cover is found
Because this is where the mountains are predominantly found
None of these answers is correct
Because this is where the thickest forest cover is found
This question requires little more than reading in detail and understanding the meaning of the word “densest.” When used to describe forests, the word “dense” means thick with trees. Regarding where the orangutan is found in Sumatra, the author says “It loves the densest and most sombre of the forests . . . and thus is found only in the eastern half of Sumatra, where alone such forests occur." Although it might also be true that these places are furthest from human settlements and are places where the orangutans can find the most food, these answers are not explicitly stated in the text and are therefore less correct.
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