The first thing any embryo must do before it can develop into an organism is establish early polarity—that is, it must set up a way to distinguish its top from its bottom and its back from its front. ███
Main point ·Developmental mechanisms differ between species early on, but are similar later in development
Passage Style
Single position
Spotlight
24.
By " conservation of mechanism █ ███████ ████████ ██ ███ ████ ██████████ ███ ██████ ██ ████████ █████████ ██
Question Type
Meaning in context (of word, phrase, or idea)
Structure
To understand the phrase, read the previous line. The author tells us that, after establishing polarity, the set of genes involved in the development of later features is “remarkably similar among all life forms.” So the “conservation of mechanism” refers to the similarity between different mechanisms for the development of later features between different organisms.
a
how the same █████████ ███ ██ ████ ██ ████ █████████ █████ ██ ███ ████ ████████
The phrase refers to similar mechanisms across different organisms. Not similar mechanisms for different parts of the same organism.
3%
b
the fact that ██ ███████ ████████ ██ ██████ ██ ███████████
The author doesn’t indicate that “no” genetic material is wasted. The phrase relates to the similarity of mechanisms among different organisms, not to the wasting or lack of waste of genetic material.
2%
c
how few genes █ █████ ████████ ████████ ██ █████ ██ █████████ ███ █████
The phrase refers to similar mechanisms across different organisms, not to the number of genes required for development.
The author doesn’t compare the amount of genetic material required in complex vs. simple organisms. The phrase refers to the similarity among genes, not the quantity of genetic material across various complexities of organisms.
11%
e
the fact that █████████ ██████████ ██ █████████ ███████ ███ ███████ █████ ██ ███████ ███████ █████
This best captures the meaning, because the author uses the phrase to describe the way in which similar genes are involved in the development of body parts across all different life forms (after the establishment of polarity).
80%
Difficulty
80% of people who answer get this correct
This is a moderately difficult question.
It is similar in difficulty to other questions in this passage.
CURVE
Score of students with a 50% chance of getting this right
25%142
151
75%160
Analysis
Meaning in context (of word, phrase, or idea)
Meaning in context (of word, phrase, or idea)
Stems that ask us to interpret the meaning of a word, phrase, or idea given the context in which it appears.
An umbrella tag marking questions that test our understanding of the passage's overall structure (e.g. Main point, Purpose of paragraph, Meaning in context, Describe organization).
Passages that highlight a person, issue, or historical event or development. These passages often focus on why that thing is significant, distinctive, or interesting.
