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July 07, 2020 July 07, 2020/
Many premeds find the CARS section to be the most challenging section of their MCAT. Depending on your premed major, you might have less confidence or exposure to critically reading and analyzing challenging pieces of literature. In addition, the MCAT plays an out-sized role in your medical school application process. A good MCAT score can significantly increase your chances of admissions! For Canadian medical schools, the CARS section of the exam is even more important. Students often need to meet minimum CARS score requirements for a chance of acceptance to these schools. So, we’ve established that the MCAT and CARS section are important. How do you score well? You must approach the MCAT with a strong, detailed, and refined MCAT study schedule. In addition, it is important that you understand the CARS strategy needed to maximize your MCAT CARS score. Finally, students who understand how to properly review practice passages they’ve taken for the CARS section of the MCAT tend to perform extremely well on the exam. In this blog, we’re going to test your CARS skills with three MCAT-style passages. Good luck!
The Ion is the shortest, or nearly the shortest, of all the writings which bear the name of Plato, and is not authenticated by any early external testimony. The grace and beauty of this little work supply the only, and perhaps a sufficient, proof of its genuineness. The plan is simple; the dramatic interest consists entirely in the contrast between the irony of Socrates and the transparent vanity and childlike enthusiasm of the rhapsode Ion—the performer who recites the Homeric writings. The theme of the Dialogue may possibly have been suggested by the passage of Xenophon's Memorabilia in which the rhapsodists are described by Euthydemus as “very precise about the exact words of Homer, but very idiotic themselves.” Ion the rhapsode has just come to Athens; he has been exhibiting in Epidaurus at the festival of Asclepius, and is intending to exhibit at the festival of the Panathenaea. Socrates admires and envies the rhapsode's art; for he is always well dressed and in good company—in the company of good poets and of Homer, who is the prince of them. In the course of conversation the admission is elicited from Ion that his skill is restricted to Homer, and that he knows nothing of inferior poets, such as Hesiod and Archilochus; he brightens up and is wide awake when Homer is being recited, but is apt to go to sleep at the recitations of any other poet. “And yet, surely, he who knows the superior ought to know the inferior also; he who can judge of the good speaker is able to judge of the bad. And poetry is a whole; and he who judges of poetry by rules of art ought to be able to judge of all poetry.” This is confirmed by the analogy of sculpture, painting, flute-playing, and the other arts. The argument is at last brought home to the mind of Ion, who asks how this contradiction is to be solved. The solution given by Socrates is as follows: The rhapsode is not guided by rules of art, but is an inspired person who derives a mysterious power from the poet; and the poet, in like manner, is inspired by the God. The poets and their interpreters may be compared to a chain of magnetic rings suspended from one another, and from a magnet. The magnet is the Muse, and the ring which immediately follows is the poet himself; from him are suspended other poets; there is also a chain of rhapsodes and actors, who also hang from the Muses, but are let down at the side; and the last ring of all is the spectator. The poet is the inspired interpreter of the God, and this is the reason why some poets, like Homer, are restricted to a single theme, or, like Tynnichus, are famous for a single poem; and the rhapsode is the inspired interpreter of the poet, and for a similar reason some rhapsodes, like Ion, are the interpreters of single poets. Ion is delighted at the notion of being inspired, and acknowledges that he is beside himself when he is performing; his eyes rain tears and his hair stands on end. Socrates is of opinion that a man must be mad who behaves in this way at a festival when he is surrounded by his friends and there is nothing to trouble him. Ion is confident that Socrates would never think him mad if he could only hear his embellishments of Homer. Socrates asks whether he can speak well about everything in Homer. 'Yes, indeed he can.' 'What about things of which he has no knowledge?' Ion answers that he can interpret anything in Homer. Material used in this test passage has been adapted from the following source: Plato; Translated by Benjamin Jowett. (2008). Ion. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved June 28, 2020, from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1635/1635-h/1635-h.htm. 1. According to the passage, the author is most likely to agree with which of the following statements? A) Ion can distinguish a good speaker from a bad speaker. B) Ion believes that Hesiod and Archilochus have potential to be great poets, but they have not yet maximized that potential. C) Socrates believes he is a better rhapsode than Ion. D) Ion can only speak when Homer is physically present. 2. In paragraph three, the author uses an analogy in order to: A) Reinforce Homer’s status as the preeminent poet B) Dispel the notion that Ion is a bad judge C) Suggest that Hesiod’s work is misunderstood D) Present a dispute that will be resolved 3. Suppose a rhapsode screams, cries, and jumps during a performance. According to the passage, Socrates is most likely to think that the: A) Performer is treating the piece properly B) Performance is inspired C) Performer is crazy D) Performance is uninteresting 4. According to the passage, Homer is inspired by: A) Socrates B) Ion C) God D) Epidarus MCAT CARS Practice Passage #1 Answers1. The correct answer is A. In the second paragraph, the author points out that Ion falls asleep when bad poets are recited. In the third paragraph, the author states that a good judge can distinguish between a good and bad poet. Since Homer is considered a superior poet and Ion recites only Homeric work, it can be concluded that Ion can distinguish a good speaker from a bad speaker (choice A is correct). Hesiod and Archilochus are mentioned as inferior poets, and there is no indication that they have potential to be greater poets (choice B is incorrect). Socrates never mentions that he is a better rhapsode than Ion (choice C is incorrect). Ion can interpret anything in Homer, but that does not mean that Homer must be physically present (choice D is incorrect). 2. The correct answer is D. The analogy is used in the third paragraph to set up a problem. The text states: “The argument is at last brought home to the mind of Ion, who asks how this contradiction is to be solved.” Then, in paragraph four, the author writes: “The solution given by Socrates is as follows.” The author presents a problem and then provides a solution (choice D is correct; choices A, B, and C are incorrect). 3. The correct answer is C. According to the final paragraph, the author states: “Socrates is of opinion that a man must be mad who behaves in this way at a festival when he is surrounded by his friends and there is nothing to trouble him.” As such, Socrates is likely to think a performer who is screaming, crying, and jumping during a performance is crazy (choice C is correct). Ion, not Socrates, is likely to think the performer is treating the piece properly and the performance is inspired (choices A and B are incorrect). Socrates takes a negative stance towards this behavior, not a neutral stance (choice D is incorrect). 4. The correct answer is C. In paragraph four, the author writes: “The rhapsode is not guided by rules of art, but is an inspired person who derives a mysterious power from the poet; and the poet, in like manner, is inspired by the God.” Since Homer is a poet, he is inspired by God according to the passage (choice C is correct; choices A, B, and D are incorrect).
Most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them. Their fingers, from excessive toil, are too clumsy and tremble too much for that. He has no time to be anything but a machine. How can he remember well his ignorance—which his growth requires—who has so often to use his knowledge? We should feed and clothe him gratuitously sometimes, and recruit him with our cordials, before we judge of him. The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling. Yet we do not treat ourselves nor one another thus tenderly. Some of you, we all know, are poor, find it hard to live, are sometimes, as it were, gasping for breath. I have no doubt that some of you who read this book are unable to pay for all the dinners which you have actually eaten, or for the coats and shoes which are fast wearing or are already worn out, and have come to this page to spend borrowed or stolen time, robbing your creditors of an hour. It is very evident what mean and sneaking lives many of you live, for my sight has been whetted by experience; always on the limits, trying to get into business and trying to get out of debt, a very ancient slough, another’s brass, for some of their coins were made of brass; still living, and dying, and buried by this other’s brass; always promising to pay, promising to pay, tomorrow, and dying today, insolvent; seeking to curry favor, to get custom, by how many modes, only not state-prison offences; lying, flattering, voting, contracting yourselves into a nutshell of civility or dilating into an atmosphere of thin and vaporous generosity, that you may persuade your neighbor to let you make his shoes, or his hat, or his coat, or his carriage, or import his groceries for him; making yourselves sick, that you may lay up something against a sick day, something to be tucked away in an old chest, or in a stocking behind the plastering, or, more safely, in the brick bank; no matter where, no matter how much or how little. The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things. The whole ground of human life seems to some to have been gone over by their predecessors, both the heights and the valleys, and all things to have been cared for. According to Evelyn, “the wise Solomon prescribed ordinances for the very distances of trees; and the Romans have decided how often you may go into your neighbor’s land to gather the acorns which fall on it without trespass, and what share belongs to that neighbor.” Hippocrates has even left directions how we should cut our nails; that is, even with the ends of the fingers, neither shorter nor longer. Undoubtedly the very tedium and ennui which presume to have exhausted the variety and the joys of life are as old as Adam. But man’s capacities have never been measured; nor are we to judge of what he can do by any precedents, so little has been tried. Whatever have been thy failures hitherto, “be not afflicted, my child, for who shall assign to thee what thou hast left undone?” Material used in this test passage has been adapted from the following source: Henry David Thoreau. (1849). Walden and On the Duty of Civil Disobedience. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/205/205-h/205-h.htm. 1. According to the first paragraph of the passage, the author implies that: A) Ignorance and mistake are unavoidable. B) The people in the country of discussion have a chance to enjoy finer aspects of life. C) Only free countries can enjoy the “finer fruits” of life. D) Hard work prevents all enjoyment. 2. Suppose an individual who owes a shoemaker money for shoes is currently reading the passage. The author would most likely respond by saying: A) The individual has the right to read the passage. B) The individual should be repaying the shoemaker instead of reading the passage. C) The individual should finish reading the passage and then repay the shoemaker. D) The individual was robbed by the shoemaker. 3. The author mentions Hippocrates in the final paragraph in order to: A) Serve as an example for human shortcomings. B) Provide concrete instructions for self-care. C) Give an example of the wide range of instructions left by predecessors. D) Contradict Evelyn’s statement. 4. In order to describe how humans should treat one another, the author uses an analogy to: A) Fruits B) Coats C) Shoes D) Nails MCAT CARS Practice Passage #2 Answers1. The correct answer is B. In the first sentence of the passage, the author states: “Most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them.” As a result, it is clear that the people in the country have the chance to enjoy the finer aspects of life, but they are not currently doing so (choice B is correct; choice D is incorrect). Since the author says “most men” and not “all men,” it is apparent that ignorance and mistake are not unavoidable (choice A is incorrect). The author implies that being in a free country might improve the chances of enjoying the finer aspects of life, but the author does not state that only free countries can enjoy the finer aspects of life (choice C is incorrect). 2. The correct answer is B. In the second paragraph, the author states: “I have no doubt that some of you who read this book are unable to pay for all the dinners which you have actually eaten, or for the coats and shoes which are fast wearing or are already worn out, and have come to this page to spend borrowed or stolen time, robbing your creditors of an hour.” In other words, the author states that debtors reading the book are stealing time from their creditors. As such, one can reasonably infer that the author believes the individuals should be repaying the shoemaker instead (choice B is correct; choices A, C, and D are incorrect). 3. The correct answer is C. In the final paragraph, the author states: “The whole ground of human life seems to some to have been gone over by their predecessors, both the heights and the valleys, and all things to have been cared for.” The prescriptions by Hippocrates for nail clippings are an example of the instructions left by human predecessors (choice C is correct; choices A, B, and D are incorrect). 4. The correct answer is A. In the first paragraph, the author states: “The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling. Yet we do not treat ourselves nor one another thus tenderly.” Therefore, the author compares the delicate handling on fruits to the delicate handling needed when humans deal with one another (choice A is correct; choices B, C, and D are incorrect).
The recent publication in the daily press of instances of human longevity under the heading 'Links with the Past' prompted a comparison between the length of time represented by the duration of a tree and the lifetime of a human being. The comparison of single lives suggested the further step of contrasting the antiquity of the oldest family-histories with the remoteness of the period to which it is possible to trace the ancestry of existing members of the plant kingdom. My primary object in these pages is not to deal with familiar cases of longevity in trees, but to consider in the first place some of the problems connected with the origin of the present British flora, and then to describe a few examples of different types of plants whose ancestors flourished during periods of the earth's history long ages before the advent of the human race. In dealing with plants of former ages we are confronted with the difficulty of forming an adequate conception of the length of time embraced by geological periods in comparison with the duration of the historic era. Some of the 'Selections from the Greek Papyri' recently edited by Dr. Milligan refer to common-place events in terms familiar to us in modern letters: we forget the interval of 2000 years which has elapsed since they were written. Similarly, the close agreement between existing plants and species which lived in remote epochs speaks of continuity through the ages, and bridges across an extent of time too great to be expressed by ordinary standards of measurement. Terms of years when extended beyond the limits to which our minds are accustomed cease to have any definite meaning. While there is a certain academic interest in discussions as to the age of the earth as expressed in years, we are utterly unable to realize the significance of the chronology employed. After speaking of the futility of attempting to introduce chronological precision into periods so recent as those which come into the purview of archaeologists, Mr. Rice Holmes suggests a method better adapted to our powers. He says—”Ascend the hill on which stands Dover Castle, and gaze upon Cape Grisnez, let the waters beneath you disappear; across the chalk that once spanned the channel like a bridge men walked from the white cliff that marks the horizon to where you stand. No arithmetical chronology can spur the imagination to flights like these.” On the other hand, the use in some country districts in Britain of spindles almost identical with instruments used in spinning by the ancient Egyptians, and similar survivals described by the author of a book entitled The Past in the Present, bring within the range of our vision an early phase of the historic era. The rude implements still fashioned by the flint-knappers of Brandon in Suffolk connect the present with the Palaeolithic age. Measured from the standpoint of historic reckoning, survivals from prehistoric days appeal to us as persistent types which have remained unchanged in a constantly changing world. Material used in this test passage has been adapted from the following source: A.C. Seward. (1911). Links with the Past in the Plant World. Cambridge at the University Press. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/62521/62521-h/62521-h.htm. 1. Which of the following analogies best compares the chronological view of flora to Holmes’ perspective on flora? A) Looking at a historical timeline versus grouping history by century. B) Observing a forest versus writing notes while sitting in a novel landscape. C) Measuring time based on tree rings versus letting the mind run free while in nature. D) Measuring a plant’s length versus measuring a plant’s width. 2. According to the fourth paragraph, the author suggests that using time to describe flora is futile because: A) Humans are unable to understand extremely long periods of time. B) Only some plants have existed longer than humans. C) Humans often outlive certain groups of plants. D) Current vocabulary cannot describe vast periods of time. 3. The author mentions the use of spindles in Britain as an example of: A) Plants that have been repurposed for modern uses. B) The growing obsoleteness of ancient tools. C) The survival of ancient tools to the modern day. D) Constant change throughout human history. 4. According to the passage, which of the following is the author LEAST likely to discuss in the remainder of the book not included in the current excerpt? A) Debates about the origin of British flora. B) The family history of a sacred and ancient oak tree. C) Origins of flora prior to human occupation of Britain. D) Plant spread by rodents in the pre-human age. MCAT CARS Practice Passage #3 Answers1. The correct answer is C. The chronological view of flora is based on time whereas Holmes’ puts forth a view where the observers should let their imaginations run free (choice C is correct). A historical timeline and grouping history by century both fall under the chronological view (choice A is incorrect). Observing a forest and writing notes while sitting in a novel landscape are both more similar to Holmes’ view (choice B is incorrect). Measuring dimensions of a plant does not address either the chronological or Holmes’ view of flora (choice D is incorrect). 2. The correct answer is A. In the fourth paragraph, the author states: “Terms of years when extended beyond the limits to which our minds are accustomed cease to have any definite meaning. While there is a certain academic interest in discussions as to the age of the earth as expressed in years, we are utterly unable to realize the significance of the chronology employed.” The author is conveying that humans do not understand the significance of long periods of time (choice A is correct). The author is not directly comparing the life expectancy of humans and plants (choices B and C are incorrect). The problem is not that there is insufficient vocabulary to describe the vast periods of time, but humans simply cannot comprehend extremely long periods of time, according to the author (choice D is incorrect). 3. The correct answer is C. The author mentions the use of spindles in Britain as an example of an ancient tool that is used in the modern day and was also used by ancient Egyptians (choice C is correct; choices A, B, and D are incorrect). 4. The correct answer is B. In the second paragraph, the author states: “My primary object in these pages is not to deal with familiar cases of longevity in trees, but to consider in the first place some of the problems connected with the origin of the present British flora, and then to describe a few examples of different types of plants whose ancestors flourished during periods of the earth's history long ages before the advent of the human race.” As such, the author is unlikely to talk about a single tree (choice B is correct). The author is likely, however, to discuss origins of the British flora (choices A and C are incorrect) and plant spread before humans (choice D is incorrect). |