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ANSWERS EXPLANATIONS Explanation for Correct Answer C : Choice (C) is correct. "Negligible" means insignificant or minimal. If one were to insert this term into the text, the sentence would read "Oil companies seeking permission to drill in Alaskan wildlife refuge areas argued that, for animals, the effects of previous drilling in comparable areas have been negligible." This sentence makes sense because it is in the self-interest of oil companies to argue that drilling has an insignificant effect on wildlife. Explanation for Incorrect Answer A : Choice (A) is incorrect. "Irrepressible" means impossible to control. If one were to insert this term into the text, the sentence would read "Oil companies seeking permission to drill in Alaskan wildlife refuge areas argued that, for animals, the effects of previous drilling in comparable areas have been irrepressible." It is in the self-interest of oil companies to show that the past effects of drilling on wildlife are insignificant, and are thus no barrier to further drilling. If the oil companies showed that the effects of previous drilling were impossible to control, they would be arguing against their own position. Explanation for Incorrect Answer B : Choice (B) is incorrect. "Counterproductive" means producing a result that is the opposite of the desired one. If one were to insert this term into the text, the sentence would read "Oil companies seeking permission to drill in Alaskan wildlife refuge areas argued that, for animals, the effects of previous drilling in comparable areas have been counterproductive." If the oil companies were to show that the effects of previous drilling on animals were the opposite of the desired result (which was, presumably, to keep them safe), then the oil companies would be offering a very unconvincing argument. Explanation for Incorrect Answer D : Choice (D) is incorrect. "Momentous" means having great importance. If one were to insert this term into the text, the sentence would read "Oil companies seeking permission to drill in Alaskan wildlife refuge areas argued that, for animals, the effects of previous drilling in comparable areas have been momentous." Arguing that the effects of the drilling on animals were very important provides some information, but not the type of detail needed for the sentence to make sense. Although momentous effects could be important in positive ways, the sentence does not make it clear such effects were not in fact important for negative reasons. Oil companies would be more likely to argue that their drilling had little effect on animals. Explanation for Incorrect Answer E : Choice (E) is incorrect. "Magnanimous" means extremely generous. If one were to insert this term into the text, the sentence would read "Oil companies seeking permission to drill in Alaskan wildlife refuge areas argued that, for animals, the effects of previous drilling in comparable areas have been magnanimous." People who do wonderful things for others are often said to be "magnanimous." The effects of drilling, however, cannot properly be described in this way. 7
ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS Explanation for Correct Answer B : Choice (B) is correct. Jerry feels insecure enough about his background to lie about it. The narrator of Passage 2 feels insecure enough about his background to think that the Hodgkinsons might stop socializing with him once they realize what background he came from. Explanation for Incorrect Answer A : Choice (A) is incorrect. Although it is true that Jerry wants to advance socially and is prepared to lie in order to improve his social position, the narrator of Passage 2 is of two minds about advancing socially. He says that the idea of moving upward socially aroused in him "a characteristic disapproval and distaste" (lines 61-62), and that he was "by no means attracted by everything" (lines 62-63) he saw in "well-off people's lives" (line 63). Explanation for Incorrect Answer C : Choice (C) is incorrect. Far from being unsuccessful in deceiving others, Jerry tells lies that are always believed. The narrator of Passage 2, by contrast, is not interested in deceiving others. Quite specifically, he wants to avoid acting in ways that might be seen as attempts to "pass." So with him, the question of whether he succeeds in deceiving others does not actually arise. Explanation for Incorrect Answer D : Choice (D) is incorrect. Jerry is not at all determined to remain genuine. On the contrary, he seems determined to be as deceitful as he needs to be to realize his social ambitions. The narrator of Passage 2 is more nearly determined to remain genuine, but even he accepts the momentary need to accept the hospitality of "well-off people" and to keep his criticism of them secret. Explanation for Incorrect Answer E : Choice (E) is incorrect. Passage 2 does not mention any friends that its narrator may have. The Hodgkinsons are clearly not friends but merely social acquaintances. So Passage 2 does not touch on the issue of what influence the lifestyles of the narrator's friends may have had on him. With Passage 1, things are slightly different. The narrator of that passage is presented as a friend of Jerry's. It is possible that the narrator's lifestyle had some influence on Jerry. The passage does not, however, address this point. 8
ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS Explanation for Correct Answer A : Choice (A) is correct. The narrator of Passage 1 describes Jerry as having realized his ambition, to be accepted as "a wealthy Bostonian, from a family of some distinction" (lines 26-27). Jerry can count on this acceptance only as long as he stays in Africa, and the narrator does in fact say that Jerry wants to stay in Africa. The fact that he gained this acceptance through carefully calibrated lies does not seem to bother Jerry. Apparently, he is satisfied. The narrator of Passage 2 is not satisfied: his current circumstances make him feel "like a hypocrite" (line 65). Explanation for Incorrect Answer B : Choice (B) is incorrect. Jerry seems fully able to distinguish fantasy from reality. His careful lies attest to that. The narrator of Passage 2 does not deal in fantasies. Sometimes he is slow to catch on to the truth, but that is not because he cannot distinguish fantasy from reality. Explanation for Incorrect Answer C : Choice (C) is incorrect. Jerry and the narrator of Passage 2 might both be willing to devote time and energy to philanthropic concerns, but this side of them is not mentioned in either passage. The "adventuring in philanthropy" (line 27) that Passage 1 mentions is part of the fictional identity that Jerry has created for himself, just as his family of distinction and his prospects of inheriting his father's business are. Explanation for Incorrect Answer D : Choice (D) is incorrect. Jerry does not refuse to accept the labels and judgments of others. Rather, he spends considerable energy and ingenuity on shaping those labels and judgments through cleverly calculated lies. Explanation for Incorrect Answer E : Choice (E) is incorrect. The narrator of Passage 1 gives no indication that Jerry is eager to befriend people of all social and economic classes. On the contrary, the narrator characterizes Jerry as someone who is highly "class-conscious." 9
ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS Explanation for Correct Answer D : Choice (D) is correct. The narrator, by carefully limiting a judgment about Jerry to a particular time in the past, strongly suggests that there were other, later times when he thought about Jerry differently. Explanation for Incorrect Answer A : Choice (A) is incorrect. The first sentence does not imply that the truth can be damaging. What the first sentence does imply is that, depending on a liar's imagination, lies can differ in how damaging they are. Explanation for Incorrect Answer B : Choice (B) is incorrect. The first sentence says bluntly, "Jerry was deceitful," and the continuation of the sentence does nothing to change that judgment. Explanation for Incorrect Answer C : Choice (C) is incorrect. The first sentence does not go into the matter of Jerry's background at all. Explanation for Incorrect Answer E : Choice (E) is incorrect. The first sentence carries an implication that at some point the narrator realized that Jerry was having a negative effect on others, but it does not carry any implications about whether Jerry was aware of this. 10
ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS Explanation for Correct Answer E : Choice (E) is correct. The narrator says that Jerry's lies were "such modest calculations" that Jerry was always believed. In other words, Jerry was so restrained in his lying that people did not suspect that they were being told lies. The word "moderate" could have been substituted for "modest" to capture the magnitude of Jerry's lies. Explanation for Incorrect Answer A : Choice (A) is incorrect. The word "shy" would be appropriate if "modest" in the passage had described something about Jerry's demeanor. But "modest" is used to indicate something about the extent of Jerry's lies. Explanation for Incorrect Answer B : Choice (B) is incorrect. The sense of "self-conscious" that is most closely related to a sense of "modest" is uncomfortably conscious of oneself as an object of the observation of others. This sense is not the appropriate one here, because the more uncomfortable someone is when lying, the less likely that person is to be believed, and the point about Jerry is that he was always believed. Explanation for Incorrect Answer C : Choice (C) is incorrect. If "secretive" is taken to describe how Jerry arrived at his lies ("secretive calculations"), it seems to apply to all lies, whether they end up being taken as the truth or not, because for there to be a lie there has to be an intent to deceive. Secretive would not be precise enough to describe the particular type of lies Jerry usually tells. Explanation for Incorrect Answer D : Choice (D) is incorrect. "Decent" is a good match for "modest" when it comes to describing someone's mode of dressing. But this meaning is not relevant here. The point being made is that Jerry calibrated his lies so skillfully that they did not arouse suspicion or disbelief. There is nothing decent about Jerry's lies. | 
