The Principle of Selection Solved the Riddle as to How what was Purposive

Reading Passage Question

The principle of selection solved the riddle as to how what was purposive could conceivably be brought about without the intervention of a directing power, the riddle which animate nature presents to our intelligence at every turn, and in face of which the mind of a Kant could find no way out, for he regarded a solution of it as not to be hoped for. For, even if we were to assume an evolutionary force that is continually transforming the most primitive and the simplest forms of life into ever higher forms, and the homogeneity of primitive times into the infinite variety of the present, we should still be unable to infer from this alone how each of the numberless forms adapted to particular conditions of life should have appeared precisely at the right moment in the history of the earth to which their adaptations were appropriate, and precisely at the proper place in which all the conditions of life to which they were adapted occurred: the humming-birds at the same time as the flowers; the trichina at the same time as the pig; the bark-coloured moth at the same time as the oak, and the wasp-like moth at the same time as the wasp which protects it. Without processes of selection we should be obliged to assume a "pre-established harmony" after the famous Leibnizian model, by means of which the clock of the evolution of organisms is so regulated as to strike in exact synchronism with that of the history of the earth!

All forms of life are strictly adapted to the conditions of their life, and can persist under these conditions alone. There must therefore be an intrinsic connection between the conditions and the structural adaptations of the organism, and, since the conditions of life cannot be determined by the animal itself, the adaptations must be called forth by the conditions. The selection theory teaches us how this is conceivable, since it enables us to understand that there is a continual production of what is non-purposive as well as of what is purposive, but the purposive alone survives, while the non-purposive perishes in the very act of arising. This is the old wisdom taught long ago by Empedocles.

“The principle of selection solved the riddle as to how what was purposive” - is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 3 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

1. It can be inferred that the author believes that the Leibnitzian model (In Bold) is

1. ingenious and worthy of serious consideration
2. untenable by all rational people
3. an acceptable solution to Kants dilemma
4. unworthy of further consideration
5. an alternative that might still be valid

2. The authors primary purpose in this extract is to

1. suggest that a particular theory explains otherwise puzzling phenomena
2. describe the details of the selection theory for a lay audience
3. justify a particularly controversial model of the origins of life
4. persuade the reader that Empedocles was right
5. prove that selection is the only possible way of looking at evolutionary biology

3. The examples in lines 15 - 17 (In Bold) are intended to

1. reinforce the authors point that is difficult to explain adaptation
2. show that adaptations must take place only at specific times and in specific places
3. give specific illustration of organisms that are particularly well-adapted to their conditions
4. show organisms that have evolved synchronously in a predestined manner
5. demonstrate that intelligent design is needed for purposive evolution

Suggested GMAT Reading Comprehension Questions

• A One-Child Policy was Implemented in China in 1979
• Seeking a Competitive Advantage, Some Professional Service Firms
• On the surface, the Conquest of the Aztec Empire by Herman Cortes
• But Man is Not Destined to Vanish. He can be Killed, but he cannot be Destroyed, Because his Soul is Deathless and his Spirit is Irrepressible.
• When Literary Periods are Defined on the Basis of Men’s Writing, Women’s Writing Must be Forcibly Assimilated
• Behind Every Book Review There are Two Key Figures: A Book Review Editor and A Reviewer.
• Barbara Strozzi was a Singer and Composer of Madrigals, Aria
• A Recent Study has Provided Clues to Predator-Prey Dynamics in the Late Pleistocene Era.
• The Black Death, a Severe Epidemic that Ravaged Fourteenth Century Europe
• The United States Government has a Long-Standing Policy of Using Federal Funds to Keep Small Business Viable.
• Comparable Worth, as a Standard Applied to Eliminate Inequities in Pay
• Some Historians Contend that Conditions in the United States During the Second World War
• More Selective than Most Chemical Pesticides in that they Ordinarily Destroy only Unwanted Species
• Historians have Identified Two Dominant Currents in the Russian Women's Movement of the Late Tsarist Period.
• Citing the Fact that the Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita was Higher in 1997
• Even More Than Mountainside Slides of Mud or Snow, Naturally Occurring Forest Fires Promote the Survival of Aspen Trees.
• The System of Patent-Granting, Which Confers Temporary Monopolies for the Exploitation of New Technologies
• Ethnohistoric Documents from Sixteenth-Century Mexico Suggesting that Weaving and Cooking were the Most Common Productive Activities for Aztec Women
• Solar Ponds are Bodies of Water in Which Circulation is Incomplete and There is a Very High Salt Concentration that Increases with Depth
• Traditional Social Science Models of Class Groups in the United States are Based on Economic Status