TOEFL Reading Comprehension 4 toefl reading comprehension 4 pdf

PRACTICE TEST 47

January 1993

Passage 1

Bacteria are extremely small living things. While we measure our own sizes in inches or

centimeters, bacterial size is measured in microns. One micron is a thousandth of a millimeter a

pinhead is about a millimeter across. Rod shaped bacteria are usually from two to tour microns

long, while rounded ones are generally one micron in diameter Thus if you enlarged a founded

bacterium a thousand times, it would be just about the size of a pinhead. An adult human

magnified by the same amount would be over a mile(1.6 kilometers) tall.

Even with an ordinary microscope, you must look closely to see bacteria. Using a

magnification of 100 times, one finds that bacteria are barely visible as tiny rods or dots One

cannot make out anything of their structure. Using special stains, one can see that some

bacteria have attached to them wavy - looking "hairs" called flagella. Others have only one

flagellum. The flagella rotate, pushing the bacteria though the water. Many bacteria lack flagella

and cannot move about by their own power while others can glide along over surfaces by some

little understood mechanism.

From the bacterial point of view, the world is a very different place from what it is to

humans To a bacterium water is as thick as molasses is to us. Bacteria are so small that they

are influenced by the movements of the chemical molecules around them. Bacteria under the

microscope, even those with no flagella, often bounce about in the water. This is because they

collide with the water molecules and are pushed this way and that. Molecules move so rapidly

that within a tenth of a second the molecules around a bacterium have all been replaced by new

ones even bacteria without flagella are thus constantly exposed to a changing environment.

1. Which of the following is the main topic of the passage?

(

A) The characteristics of bacteria

C) The various functions of bacteria

(B) How bacteria reproduce

(A) How bacteria contribute to disease

2

. Bacteria are measured in

A) inches

(

(B) centimeters

(C) microns

(D) millimeters

3. Which of the following is the smallest?

(

A) A pinhead

(B) A rounded bacterium

C) A microscope

(D) A rod-shaped bacterium

4. According to the passage, someone who examines bacteria using only a microscope that magnifies 100

times would see

(

A) tiny dots

(B) small "hairs"

C) large rods

(D) detailed structures

5. The relationship between a bacterium and its flagella is most nearly analogous to which of the following?

(

A) A rider jumping on a horse's back

C) A boat powered by a motor

(B) A ball being hit by a bat

(D) A door closed by a gust of wind

6. In line 16, the author compares water to molasses, in order to introduce which of the following topics?

(

A) The bacterial content of different liquids

B) What happens when bacteria are added to molasses

C) The molecular structures of different chemicals

D) How difficult it is for bacteria to move through water

3

PRACTICE TEST 47 – January 1993

Passage 2

One of the most popular literary figures in American literature is a woman who spent

almost half of her long life in China, a country on a continent thousands of miles from the United

States. In her lifetime she earned this country's most highly acclaimed literary award: the

Pulitzer Prize, and also the most prestigious form of literary recognition in the world, the Nobel

Prize for Literature. Pearl S. Buck was almost a household word throughout much of her lifetime

because of her prolific literary output, which consisted of some eighty - five published works,

including several dozen novels, six collections of short stories, fourteen books for children, and

more than a dozen works of nonfiction. When she was eighty years old, some twenty - five

volumes were awaiting publication. Many of those books were set in China, the land in which

she spent so much of her life. Her books and her life served as a bridge between the cultures of

the East and the West. As the product of those two cultures she became as the described

herself, "mentally bifocal." Her unique background made her into an unusually interesting and

versatile human being. As we examine the life of Pearl Buck, we cannot help but be aware that

we are in fact meeting three separate people: a wife and mother, an internationally famous

writer and a humanitarian and philanthropist. One cannot really get to know Pearl Buck without

learning about each of the three. Though honored in her lifetime with the William Dean Howell

Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in addition to the Nobel and Pulitzer prizes.

Pearl Buck as a total human being, not only a famous author. is a captivating subject of study.

1. What is the author's main purpose in the passage?

(

A) To offer a criticism of the works of Pearl Buck.

B) To illustrate Pearl Buck's views on Chinese literature

C) To indicate the background and diverse interests of Pearl Buck

D) To discuss Pearl Buck's influence on the cultures of the East and the West

2

. According to the passage, Pearl Buck is known as a writer of all of the following EXCEPT

A) novels (B) children's books (C) poetry (D) short stories

(

3. Which of the following is NOT mentioned by the author as an award received by Pearl Buck?

(

A) The Nobel Prize

(B) The Newberry Medal

(D) The Pulitzer prize

C) The William Dean Howell medal

4

5

6

. According to the passage, Pearl Buck was an unusual figure in American literature in that she

(

A) wrote extensively about a very different culture

B) published half of her books abroad

C) won more awards than any other woman of her time

D) achieved her first success very late in life

. According to the passage, Pearl Buck described herself as "mentally bifocal" to suggest that she was

(

A) capable of resolving the differences between two distinct linguistic systems

B) keenly aware of how the past could influence the future

C) capable of producing literary works of interest to both adults and children

D) equally familiar with two different cultural environments

. The author's attitude toward Pearl Buck could best be described as

A) indifferent (B) admiring (C) sympathetic

(

(D) tolerant

4

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

Passage 3

When we accept the evidence of our unaided eyes and describe the Sun as a yellow star,

we have summed up the most important single fact about it-at this moment in time.

It appears probable, however, that sunlight will be the color we know for only a negligibly

small part of the Sun's history. Stars, like individuals, age and change. As we look out into

space, We see around us stars at all stages of evolution. There are faint blood-red dwarfs so

cool that their surface temperature is a mere 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, there are searing

ghosts blazing at 100, 000 degrees Fahrenheit and almost too hot to be seen, for the great part

of their radiation is in the invisible ultraviolet range. Obviously, the "daylight" produced by any

star depends on its temperature; today(and for ages to come) our Sun is at about 10,000

degrees Fahrenheit, and this means that most of the Sun's light is concentrated in the yellow

band of the spectrum, falling slowly in intensity toward both the longer and shorter light waves.

That yellow "hump" will shift as the Sun evolves, and the light of day will change accordingly. It

is natural to assume that as the Sun grows older, and uses up its hydrogen fuel-which it is now

doing at the spanking rate of half a billion tons a second- it will become steadily colder and

redder.

1

2

3

. What is the passage mainly about?

(

A) Faint dwarf stars

(B) The evolutionary cycle of the Sun

(D) The dangers of invisible radiation

C) The Sun's fuel problem

. What does the author say is especially important about the Sun at the present time?

(

A) It appears yellow

(B) It always remains the same

(D) It is too cold

C) It has a short history

. Why are very hot stars referred to as "ghosts"?

(

A) They are short- lived.

C) They are frightening.

(B) They are mysterious.

(D) They are nearly invisible.

4. According to the passage as the Sun continues to age, it is likely to become what color?

(

A) Yellow

(B) Violet

(C) Red

(C) Sun

(D) White

5

. In line 15, to which of the following does "it" refer?

A) yellow "hump" (B) day

(

(D) hydrogen fuel

Passage 4

If by "suburb" is meant an urban margin that grows more rapidly than its already

developed interior, the process of suburbanization began during the emergence of the industrial

city in the second quarter of the nineteenth century. Before that period the city was a small

highly compact cluster in which people moved about on foot and goods were conveyed by

horse and cart. But the early factories built in the 1830's and 1840's were located along

waterways and near railheads at the edges of cities, and housing was needed for the thousands

of people drawn by the prospect of employment. In time, the factories were surrounded by

proliferating mill towns of apartments and row houses that abutted the older, main cities. As a

defense against this encroachment and to enlarge their tax bases, the cities appropriated their

industrial neighbors. In 1854, for example, the city of Philadelphia annexed most of Philadelphia

County. Similar municipal maneuvers took place in Chicago and in New York Indeed, most

great cities of the United States achieved such status only by incorporating the communities

along their borders.

5

PRACTICE TEST 47 – January 1993

With the acceleration of industrial growth came acute urban crowding and

accompanying social stress conditions that began to approach disastrous proportions when, in

888, the first commercially successful electric traction line was developed. Within a few years

1

the horse - drawn trolleys were retired and electric streetcar networks crisscrossed and

connected every major urban area, fostering a wave of suburbanization that transformed the

compact industrial city into a dispersed metropolis. This first phase of mass - scale

suburbanization was reinforced by the simultaneous emergence of the urban Middle class

whose desires for homeownership In neighborhoods far from the aging inner city were satisfied

by the developers of single-family housing tracts.

1

2

3

4

. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

(

A) The growth of Philadelphia

(B) The Origin of the Suburb

C) The Development of City Transportation

(D) The Rise of the Urban Middle Class

. The author mentions that areas bordering the cities have grown during periods of

(

A) industrialization

C) revitalization

(B) inflation

(D) unionization

. In line 10 the word "encroachment" refers to which of the following?

(

A) The smell of the factories

(B) The growth of mill towns

(D) The loss of jobs

C) The development of waterways

. Which of the following was NOT mentioned in the passage as a factor in nineteenth-century

suburbanization?

(

A) Cheaper housing

(B) Urban crowding

C) The advent of an urban middle class

(D) The invention of the electric streetcar

5. It can be inferred from the passage that after 1890 most people traveled around cities by

(

A) automobile

(B) cart

C) horse-draw trolley

(D) electric streetcar

6. Where in the passage does the author describe the cities as they were prior to suburbanization.

(

A) Lines 3-5

(B) Lines 5-9

C) Lines 12- 13

(D) Lines 15-18

Passage 5

The first English attempts to colonize North America were controlled by individuals rather

than companies. Sir Humphrey Gilbert was the first Englishman to send colonists to the New

World. His initial expedition, which sailed in 1578 with a patent granted by Queen Elizabeth was

defeated by the Spanish. A second attempt ended in disaster in 1583, when Gilbert and his

ship were lost in a storm. In the following year, Gilbert's half brother, Sir Water Raleigh, having

obtained a renewal of the patent, sponsored an expedition that explored the coast of the region

that he named "Virginia." Under Raleigh's direction efforts were then made to establish a colony

on Roanoke island in 1585 an6 1587. The survivors of the first settlement on Roanoke returned

to England in 1586, but the second group of colonists disappeared without leaving a trace. The

failure of the Gilbert and Raleigh ventures made it clear that the tasks they had undertaken

were too big for any one colonizer. Within a short time the trading company had supplanted the

individual promoter of colonization.

6

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

1. Which of the following would be the most appropriate title for the passage?

(

A) The Regulation of Trading Companies

B) British - Spanish Rivalry in the New World

C) Early Attempts at Colonizing North America

D) Royal Patents Issued in the 16th Century

2. The passage states which of the following about the first English people to be involved in establishing

colonies in North America?

(

A) They were requested to do so by Queen Elizabeth.

B) They were members of large trading companies.

C) They were immediately successful.

D) They were acting on their own.

3. According to the passage, which of the following statements about Sir Humphrey Gilbert is true?

(

A) He never settled in North America.

B) His trading company was given a patent by the queen.

C) He fought the Spanish twice.

D) He died in 1587.

4

. When did Sir Walter Raleigh's initial expedition set out for North America?

A) 1577 (B) 1579 (C) 1582

(

(D) 1584

5. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about members of the first Roanoke settlement?

(

A) They explored the entire coastal region.

C) They named the area "Virginia".

(B) Some did not survive.

(D) Most were not experienced sailors.

6

. According to the passage, the first English settlement on Roanoke Island was established in

A) 1578 (B) 1583 (C) 1585 (D) 1587

(

7. According to the passage, which of; the following statements about the second settlement on Roanoke

Island is true?

(

A) Its settlers all gave up and returned to England.

B) It lasted for several years.

C) The fate of its inhabitants is unknown.

D) It was conquered by the Spanish.

7

PRACTICE TEST 48

May 1993

Passage 1

With its radiant color and plantlike shape, the sea anemone looks more like a flower than

an animal. More specifically, the sea anemone is formed quite like the flower for which it is

named, with a body like a stem and tentacles like petals in brilliant shades of blue, green, pink,

and red Its diameter varies from about six millimeters in some species to more than ninety

centimeters in the giant varieties of Australia. Like corals, hydras, and jellyfish, sea anemones

are coelenterates. They can move slowly, but more often they attach the lower part of their

cylindrical bodies to rocks, shells, or wharf pilings. The upper end of the sea anemone has a

mouth surrounded by tentacles that the animal uses to capture its food. Stinging cells in the

tentacles throw out tiny poison threads that paralyze other small sea animals. The tentacles

then drag this prey into the sea anemone's mouth. The food is digested in the large inner body

cavity. When disturbed a sea anemone retracts its tentacles and shortens its body so that it

resembles a lump on a rock. Anemones may reproduce by forming eggs, dividing in half or

developing buds that grow and break off as independent animals.

1. The word "shape" in line 1 is closest in meaning to which of the following?

(

A) Length (D) Nature

(B) Grace

(C) Form

2. According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true of sea anemones?

(

A) They are usually tiny.

(B) They have flexible bodies.

C) They are related to jellyfish.

(D) They are usually brightly colored.

3. It can be inferred from the passage that sea anemones are usually found

(

A) attached to stationary surfaces

(B) hidden inside cylindrical objects

(D) chasing prey around wharf pilings

C) floating among underwater flowers

4

5

6

. The word "capture" in line 8 is closest in meaning to which of the following ?

(

A) Catch (B) Control (C) Cover

(D) Clean

(D) Sick

. The word "disturbed" in line 11 is closest in meaning to which of the following?

(

A) Bothered

(B) Hungry

(C) Tired

. The sea anemone reproduces by

(

A) budding only

(B) forming eggs only

C) budding or dividing only

(D) budding, forming eggs, or dividing

7. Where does the author mention the sea anemone's food - gathering technique

(

A) Lines 1-2

(B) Lines 4-6

C) Lines 7-10

(D) Lines 11-13

8

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

Passage 2

Steamships were first introduced into the United States in 1807, and John Molson built

the first steamship in Canada(then called British North America) in 1809. By the 1830's dozens

of steam vessels were in use in Canada. They offered the traveler reliable transportation in

comfortable facilities-a welcome alternative to stagecoach travel, which at the best of times

could only be described as wretched. This commitment to dependable river transport

became entrenched with the investment of millions of dollars for the improvement of waterways.

which included the construction of canals and lock systems. The Lachine and Welland canals.

two of the most important systems. were opened in 1825 and 1829, respectively. By the time

that Upper and Lower Canada were united into the Province of Canada in 1841. the public debt

for canals was more than one hundred dollars per capita. an enormous sum for the time. But it

may not seem such a great amount if we consider that improvements allowed steamboats to

remain practical for most commercial transport in Canada until the mid-- nineteenth century.

1. What is the main purpose of the passage?

(

A) To contrast travel by steamship and stagecoach

B) To criticize the level of public debt in nineteenth - century Canada -

C) To describe the introduction of steamships in Canada

D) To show how Canada surpassed the United States in transportation improvements

2

. The word "reliable" in line 3 is closest in meaning to which of the following

A) Quick (B) Safe (C) Dependable

(

(D) Luxurious

3. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about stagecoach travel in Canada in the 1831's?

(

A) It was reasonably comfortable.

C) It was not popular.

(B) It was extremely efficient.

(D) It was very practical.

4

5

6

. According to the passage, when was the Welland Canal opened?

(

A) 1807 (B) 1809 (C) 1825

(D) 1829

. The word "sum" in line 10 is closest in meaning to which of the following?

A) Size (B) Cost (C) Payment

(

(D) Amount

. According to the passage, steamships became practical means of transportation in Canada because of

(

A) improvements in the waterways

C) a relatively small population

(B) large subsidies from John Molson

(D) the lack of alternate means

Passage 3

Archaeology is a source of history, not just a humble auxiliary discipline. Archaeological

data are historical documents in their own right, not mere illustrations to written texts. Just as

much as any other historian. an archaeologist studies and tries to reconstitute the process that

has created the human world in which we live-and us ourselves in so far as we are each

creatures of our age and social environment. Archaeological data are all changes in the material

world resulting from human action or. more succinctly. the fossilized results of human behavior.

The sum total of these constitute what may be called the archaeological record. This record

exhibits certain peculiarities and deficiencies the consequences of which produce a rather

superficial contrast between archaeological history and the more familiar kind based upon

written records.

Not all human behavior fossilizes. The words I utter and you hear as vibrations in the air

are certainly human changes in the material world and may be of great historical significance.

9

PRACTICE TEST 48 – May 1993

Yet they leave no sort of trace in the archaeological records unless they are captured by a

dictaphone or written down by a clerk. The movement of troops on the battlefield may "change

the course of history", but this is equally ephemeral from the archaeologist's standpoint. What is

perhaps worse, most organic materials are perishable. Everything made of wood. hide wool.

linen. grass hair. and similar materials will decay and vanish in dust in a few years or centuries,

save under very exceptional conditions. In a relatively brief period the archaeological record is

reduced to mere scraps of stone. bone, glass. metal, and earthenware. Still modern

archaeology, by applying appropriate techniques and comparative methods. aided by a few

lucky finds from peat bogs. deserts. and frozen soils. is able to fill up a good deal of the gap.

1. What is the author's main purpose in the passage?

(

A) To point out the importance of recent advances in archaeology

B) To describe an archaeologist‟s education

C) To explain how archaeology is a source of history

D) To encourage more people to become archaeologists

2. According to the passage. the archaeological record consists of

(

A) spoken words of great historical significance

B) the fossilize results of human activity

C) organic materials

D) ephemeral ideas

3

4

5

. The word "they" in line 13 refers to

(

A) scraps (B) words

(C) troops

(D) humans

(D) Hair

. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as an example of an organic material?

A) Stone (B) Wool (C) Grass

(

. The author mentions all of the following archaeological discovery sites EXCEPT

(

A) urban areas

(B) peat bogs

(D) earth that has been frozen

C) very hot and dry lands

6. The paragraph following the passage most probably discusses

(

A) techniques for recording oral histories

B) certain battlefield excavation methods

C) some specific archaeological discoveries

D) building materials of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

Passage 4

Many artists late in the last century were in search of a means to express their

individuality. Modern dance was one of the ways some of these people sought to free their

creative spirit. At the beginning there was no exacting technique, no foundation from which to

build. In later years trial, error, and genius founded the techniques and the principles of the

movement. Eventually, innovators even drew from what they considered the dread ballet, but

first they had to discard all that was academic so that the new could be discovered. The

beginnings of modern dance were happening before Isadora Duncan, but she was the first

person to bring the new dance to general audiences and see it accepted and acclaimed.

Her search for a natural movement form sent her to nature. She believed movement should be

as natural as the swaying of the trees and the rolling waves of the sea, and should be in

harmony with the movements of the Earth. Her great contributions are in three areas.

First, she began the expansion of the kinds of movements that could be used in dance.

Before Duncan danced, ballet was the only type of dance performed in concert. In the ballet the

10

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

feet and legs were emphasized, with virtuosity shown by complicated, codified positions and

movements. Duncan performed dance by using all her body in the freest possible way. Her

dance stemmed from her soul and spirit. She was one of the pioneers who broke tradition so

others might be able to develop the art.

Her second contribution lies in dance costume. She discarded corset, ballet shoes. and

stiff costumes. These were replaced with flowing Grecian tunics, bare feet, and unbound hair.

She believed in the natural body being allowed to move freely, and her dress displayed this

ideal.

Her third contribution was in the use of music. In her performances she used the

symphonies of great masters, including Beethoven and Wagner, which was not the usual

custom. She was as exciting and eccentric in her personal life as in her dance.

1. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

(

A) The Evolution of Dance in the Twentieth Century

B) Artists of the Last Century

C) Natural Movement in Dance

D) A Pioneer in Modern Dance

2. According to the passage, what did nature represent to Isadora Duncan?

(

A) Something to conquer

C) A place to find peace

(B) A model for movement

(D) A symbol of disorder

3. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as an area of dance that Isadora Duncan worked

to change?

(

A) The music

C) Costumes

(B) The stage sets

(D) Movements

4

. Compared to those of the ballet, Isadora Duncan's costumes were less

A) costly (B) colorful (C) graceful

(

(D) restrictive

5. What does the paragraph following the passage most probably discuss?

(

A) Isadora Duncan‟s further contribution to modem dance

B) The music customarily used in ballet

C) Other aspects of Isadora Duncan's life

D) Audience acceptance of the new form of dance

Passage 5

The theory of plate tectonics describes the motions of the lithosphere, the comparatively

rigid outer layer of the Earth that includes all the crust and part of the underlying mantle. The

lithosphere is divided into a few dozen plates of various sizes and shapes, in general the plates

are in motion with respect to one another. A mid - ocean ridge is a boundary between plates

where new lithospheric material is injected from below. As the plates diverge from a mid - ocean

ridge they slide on a more yielding layer at the base of the lithosphere.

Since the size of the Earth is essentially constant, new lithosphere can be created at the

mid - ocean ridges only if an equal amount of lithospheric material is consumed elsewhere. The

site of this destruction is another kind of plate boundary: a subduction zone. There one plate

dives under the edge of another and is reincorporated into the mantle. Both kinds of plate

boundary are associated with fault systems, earthquakes and volcanism, but the kinds of

geologic activity observed at the two boundaries are quite different.

11

PRACTICE TEST 48 – May 1993

The idea of sea-floor spreading actually preceded the theory of plate tectonics. In its

original version, in the early 1960,s, it described the creation and destruction of the ocean floor,

but it did not specify rigid lithospheric plates. The hypothesis was substantiated soon afterward

by the discovery that periodic reversals of the Earth' $ magnetic field are recorded in the

oceanic crust. As magma rises under the mid - ocean ridge. ferromagnetic minerals in the

magma become magnetized in the direction of the geomagnetic field. When the magma cooks

and solidifies, the direction and the polarity of the field are preserved in the magnetized volcanic

rock. Reversals of the field give rise to a series of magnetic stripes running parallel to the axis of

the rift. The oceanic crust thus serves as a magnetic tape recording of the history of the

geomagnetic field that can be dated independently the width of the stripes indicates the rate of

the sea - floor spreading.

1

2

3

. What is the main topic of the passage?

(

A) Magnetic field reversal

(B) The formation of magma

(D) Plate tectonic theory

C) The location of mid - ocean ridges

. According to the passage, there are approximately how many lithospheric plates?

(

A) Six

(B) Twelve

C) Twenty - four or more

(D) One thousand nine hundred

. Which of the following is true about tectonic plates?

(

A) They are moving in relationship to one other

B) They have unchanging borders

C) They are located far beneath the lithosphere

D) They have the same shape

4. According to the passage, which of the following statements about the lithosphere is LEAST likely to be

true?

(

A) It is a relatively inflexible layer of the Earth

B) It is made up entirely of volcanic ash

C) It includes the crust and some of the mantle of the Earth

D) It is divided into plates of various shapes and sizes

5. What does the author imply about the periodic reversal of the Earth's magnetic field?

(

A) It is inexplicable

B) It supports the hypothesis of sea-floor spreading

C) It was discovery before the 1960's

D) It indicates the amount of magma present

6. The author states that the width of the stripes preserved in magnetized volcanic rock give information

about the

(

A) date of a volcanic eruption

C) width of oceanic crust

(B) speed of sea - floor spreading

(D) future behavior of the geomagnetic field

12

PRACTICE TEST 49

August 1993

Passage 1

The first jazz musicians played in New Orleans during the early 1900's. After 1917. many

of the New Orleans musicians moved to the south side of Chicago. where they continued to

play their style of jazz. Soon Chicago was the new-center for jazz.

Several outstanding musicians emerged as leading jazz artists in Chicago. Daniel Lotus

"Satchmo" Armstrong, born in New Orleans in 1900, was one. Another leading musician was

Joseph king Oliver. who is also credited with having discovered Armstrong, when they were

both in New Orleans. While in Chicago. Oliver asked Armstrong, who was in New Orleans, to

join his band. In 1923 King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band made the first important set of recordings

by a Hot Five and Hot Seven bands under Louis Armstrong also made recordings of special

note.

Although Chicago‟s South Side was the main jazz center, some musicians in New York

were also demanding attention in jazz circles. In 1923 Fletcher Henderson already had a ten -

piece band that played jazz. During the early 1930‟s, the number of players grew to sixteen.

Henderson' s band was considered a leader in what some people have called the Big Band Era.

By the 1930‟s. big dance bands were the rage. Large numbers of people went to ballrooms to

dance to jazz music played by big bands.

One of the most popular and also a very famous jazz band was the Duke Eilington band.

Edward "Duke" Ellington was born in Washington, D.C., in 1899 and died in New York City in

1974. He studied the piano as a young boy and later began writing original musical

compositions. The first of Ellington's European tours came in 1933. He soon received

international fame for his talent as a band leader, composer. and arranger. Ten years later,

Ellington began giving annual concerts at Carnegic Hall in New York City. People began to

listen to jazz in the same way, that they had always listened to classical music.

1. It can be inferred from the passage that Louis Armstrong went to Chicago for which of the following

reasons?

(

A) To form his own band

(B) To learn to play Chicago - style jazz

(D) To make recordings with the Hot Five

C) To play in Joseph Oliver's band

2. According to the passage, which of the following Black bands was the first to make a significant set of jazz

recordings?

(

A) The Hot Seven band

(B) Fletcher Henderson's band

C) The Red Hot Peppers band

(D) King Oliver's Creole jazz Band

3

. As used in line 12, the word "note" could best be replaced by which of the following?

A) distinction (B) memorandum (C) mood (D) song

(

4. The nickname "Duke" belonged to which of the following bandleaders?

(

A) Louis Armstrong

C) Edward Ellington

(B) Joseph Oliver

(D) Fletcher Henderson

5. The passage supports which of the following conclusions?

(

A) By the 1930's jazz was appreciated by a wide audience

B) Classical music had a great impact on jazz

C) jazz originated in New Orleans in the early nineteenth century

D) jazz band were better known in, Europe than in the United States

13

PRACTICE TEST 49 – August 1993

6. Which of the following cities is NOT mentioned in the passage as a center of jazz?

(

A) New York

C) Chicago

(B) Washington, D.C.

(D) New Orleans

Passage 2

The modern age is an age of electricity. People are so used to electric lights, radio,

televisions, and telephones that it is hard to imagine what life would be like without them. When

there is a power failure, people grope about in flickering candlelight. Cars hesitate in the streets

because there are no traffic lights to guide them, and food spoils in silent refrigerators.

Yet, people began to understand how electricity works only a little more than two

centuries ago. Nature has apparently been experimenting in this field for millions of years.

Scientists are discovering more and more that the living world may hold many interesting

secrets of electricity that could benefit humanity.

All living cells sent out tiny pulses of electricity. As the heart beats. it send out pulses of

recorded electricity; they form an electrocardiogram, which a doctor can study to determine how

well the heart is working. The brain, too, sends out brain waves of electricity, which can be

recorded in an electroencephalogram. The electric currents generated by most living cells are

extremely small-of-ten so small that sensitive instruments are needed to record them. But in

some animals, certain muscle cells have become so specialized as electrical generators that

they do not work as muscle cells at all. When large numbers of these cells are linked together,

the effects can be astonishing.

The electric eel is an amazing storage battery. It can send a jolt of as much as eight

hundred volts of electricity through the water in which it lives. An electric house current is only

one hundred twenty volts.) As many as four fifths of all the cells in the electric eel‟s body are

specialized for generating electricity, and the strength of the shock it can deliver corresponds

roughly to the length of its body.

1. What is the main idea of the passage?

(

A) Electric eels are potentially dangerous

B) Biology and electricity appear to be closely related

C) People would be at a loss without electricity

D) Scientists still have much to discover about electricity

2. The author mentions all of the following as results of a blackout EXCEPT

(

A) refrigerated food items may go bad

C) people must rely on candlelight

(B) traffic lights do not work

(D) elevators and escalators do not function

3. Why does the author mention electric eels?

(

A) To warn the reader to stay away from them

B) To compare their voltage to that used in houses

C) To give an example of a living electrical generator

D) To describe a new source of electrical power

4

. How many volts of electricity can an electric eel emit?

A) 1,000 (B) 800

(

(C) 200

(D) 120

5. It can be inferred from the passage that the longer an eel is the

(

A) more beneficial it will be to science

C) easier it will be to find

(B) more powerful will be its electrical charge

(D) tougher it will be to eat

14

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

Passage 3

No sooner had the first intrepid male aviators safely returned to Earth than it seemed that

women. too, had been smitten by an urge to fly. From mere spectators, they became willing

passengers and finally pilots in their own right, plotting their skills and daring line against the

hazards of the air and the skepticism of their male counterparts. In doing so they enlarged the

traditional bounds of a women's world, won for their sex a new sense of competence and

achievement, and contributed handsomely to the progress of aviation.

But recognition of their abilities did not come easily. "Men do not believe us capable." the

famed aviator Amelia Earhart once remarked to a friend. "Because we are women, seldom are

we trusted to do an efficient job." Indeed old attitudes died hard: when Charles Lindbergh visited

the Soviet Union in i938 with his wife, Anne-herself a pilot and gifted proponent of aviation - he

was astonished to discover both men and women flying in the Soviet Air Force.

Such conventional wisdom made it difficult for women to raise money for the up - to - date

equipment they needed to compete on an equal basis with men. Yet they did compete, and

often they triumphed finally despite the odds.

Ruth Law, whose 590 - mile flight from Chicago to Hornell, New York, set a new nonstop

distance record in 1916, exemplified the resourcefulness and grit demanded of any woman who

wanted to fly. And when she addressed the Aero Club of America after completing her historic

journey, her plainspoken words testified to a universal human motivation that was unaffected by

gender: "My flight was done with no expectation of reward," she declared, "just purely for the

love of accomplishment."

1. Which of the following is the best title for this passage?

(

A) A Long Flight

(B) Women in Aviation History

(D) Women Spectators

C) Dangers Faced by Pilots

2. According to the passage, women pilots were successful in all of the following EXCEPT

(

A) challenging the conventional role of women

B) contributing to the science of aviation

C) winning universal recognition from men

D) building the confidence of women

3. What can be inferred from the passage about the United States Air Force in 1938?

(

A) It had no women pilots.

B) It gave pilots handsome salaries.

C) It had old planes that were in need of repair.

D) It could not be trusted to do an efficient job.

4. In their efforts to compete with men, early women pilots had difficulty in

(

A) addressing clubs

C) setting records

(B) flying nonstop

(D) raising money

5. According to the passage, who said that flying was done with no expectation of reward?

(

A) Amelia Earhart

C) Anne Lindbergh

(B) Charles Lindbergh

(D) Ruth Law

15

PRACTICE TEST 49 – August 1993

Passage 4

Insects' lives are very short and they have many enemies, but they must survive long

enough to breed and perpetuate their kind. The less insect-like they look, the better their chance

of survival. To look "inedible" by resembling or imitating plants is a deception widely practiced

by insects. Mammals rarely use this type of camouflage, but many fish and invertebrates do.

The stick caterpillar is well named. It is hardly distinguishable from a brown or green twig.

This caterpillar is quite common and can be found almost anywhere in North America. It is also

called "measuring worm" or "inchworm." It walks by arching its body, than stretching out and

grasping the branch with its front feet then looping its body again to bring the hind feet forward.

When danger threatens, the stick caterpillar stretches its body away from the branch at an angle

and remains rigid and still, like a twig, until the danger has passed.

Walking sticks, or stick insects, do not have to assume a rigid, twig-like pose to find

protection; they look like inedible twigs in any position. There are many kinds of walking sticks,

ranging in size form the few inches of the North American variety to some tropical species that

may be over a foot long. When at rest their front legs are stretched out. heightening their

camouflage. Some of the tropical species are adorned with spines or ridges. imitating the thorny

bushes or trees in which they live.

Leaves also seem to be a favorite object for insects to imitate. Many butterflies can

suddenly disappear from view by folding their wings and sitting quietly among the foliage that

they resemble.

1. What is the main subject of the passage?

(

A) Caterpillars that live in trees

B) The feeding habits of insects

C) How some insects camouflage themselves

D) Insects that are threatened with extinction

2

3

4

. In lines I and 4, the word "enemies" refers to

(

A) other creatures competing for space

C) creatures that eat insects

(B) extreme weather conditions

(D) inedible insects

. According to the passage, how does the stick caterpillar make itself look like a twig?

(

A) By holding its body stiff and motionless

C) By changing the color of its skin

(B) By looping itself around a stick

(D) By laying its body flat against a branch

. Which of the following is true of stick insects?

(

A) They resemble their surroundings all the time.

B) They make themselves look like other insects.

C) They are camouflaged only when walking.

D) They change color to make themselves in visible.

5. Which of the following are NOT mentioned in the passage as objects that are imitated as a means of

protection?

(

A) Thorns (D) Sticks

(B) Flowers

(C) Leaves

6. In which paragraph does the author describe the way in which stick caterpillars move?

(

A) Paragraph one

C) Paragraph three

(B) Paragraph two

(D) Paragraph four

16

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

7. Where in the passage does the author describe the habitat of tropical stick insects?

(

A) Line 7

(B) Lines 10-11

(D) Lines 16-17

C) Lines 13-15

Passage 5

Anthropologists have pieced together the little they know about the history of left -

handedness and right - handedness from indirect evidence. Though early men and women did

not leave written records, they did leave tools, bones, and pictures. Stone Age hand axes and

hatchets were made from stones that were carefully chipped away to form sharp cutting edges.

In some. the pattern of chipping shows that these tools and weapons were made by right

handed people. designed to fit comfortably into a right hand. Other Stone Age implements were

made by or for left-handers Prehistoric pictures. painted on the walls of caves. provide further

clues to the handedness of ancient people. A right - hander finds it easier to draw faces of

people and animals facing toward the left. whereas a left - hander finds it easier to draw faces

facing toward the right. Both kinds of faces have been found in ancient painting. On the whole.

the evidence seems to indicate that prehistoric people were either ambidextrous or about

equally likely to be left - or right - handed.

But, in the Bronze Age. the picture changed. The tools and weapons found from that

period are mostly made for right - handed use. The predominance of right - handedness among

humans today had apparently already been established.

1. What is the main topic of the passage?

(

A) The purpose of ancient implements

B) The significance of prehistoric cave paintings

C) The development of right - handedness and left - handedness

D) The similarities between the Stone Age and Bronze Age

2. Which of the following helped lead to conclusions about whether Store Age people preferred one hand to

the other?

(

A) Petrified forms of vegetation

C) Fossilized waste material

(B) Patterns of stone chipping

(D) Fossilized footprints

3

. In line 8, the word "further" is closest in meaning to which of the following?

A) advanced (B) additional (C) artistic

(

(D) factual

2. According to the passage, a person who is right - handed is more likely to draw people and animals that

are facing

(

A) upward

(B) downward

C) toward the right

(D) toward the left

5. In line 13, the words "the picture" refer to which of the following?

(

A) Faces of animals and people

B) People's view from inside a cave

C) People's tendency to work with either hand

D) The kinds of paint used on cave walls

6. Where in the passage does the author mention a type of evidence that was NOT studied by

anthropologists researching the handedness of ancient people?

(

A) Lines 2-3

(B) Lines 7-8

C) Lines 11-12

(D) Lines 14-15

7

. The author implies that which of the following developments occurred around the time of the Bronze Age

A) The establishment of written records

(

17

PRACTICE TEST 49 – August 1993

(

B) A change in the styles of cave painting

C) An increase in human skill in the handling of tools

D) The prevalence of righthandedness

18

PRACTICE TEST 50

January 1992

Passage 1

The first navigational lights in the New World were probably lanterns hung at harbor

entrances. The first lighthouse was put up by the Massachusetts Bay Colony In 1766 on Little

Brewster Island at the entrance to Boston Harbor. Paid for and maintained by light dues levied

on ships, the original beacon was blown up in 1776. By then there were only a dozen or so true

lighthouses in the colonies. Little over a century later, there were 700 lighthouses.

The first eight erected on the West Coast in the 1850‟s featured the same basic New

England design: a Cape Cod dwelling with the tower rising from the center or standing close by.

In New England and elsewhere. though. lighthouses reflected a variety of architectural styles.

Since most stations in the Northeast were built on rocky eminences, enormous towers were not

the rule. Some were made of stone and brick, others of wood or metal. Some stood on pilings or

stilts: some were fastened to rock with iron rods. Farther south. from Maryland through the

Florida Keys, the coast was low and sandy. It was often necessary to build tall towers there –

massive structures like the majestic Cape Hatteras, North Carolina lighthouse, which was lit in

1870. At 190 feet, it is the tallest brick lighthouse in the country.

Not withstanding differences in appearance and construction, most American lighthouses

shared several features: a light, living quarters, and sometimes a bell(or, later, a foghorn). They

also had something else in common: a keeper and. usually. the keeper's family. The keeper's

essential task was trimming the lantern 'Nick in order to maintain a steady bright flame. The

earliest keepers came from every walk of life-they were seamen. Farmers, mechanics, rough

mill hands-and appointments were often handed out by local customs commissioners as

political plums. After the administration of lighthouses was taken over in 1852 by the United

rd

States Lighthouse 803 , an agency of the Treasury Department, the keeper corps gradually

became highly professional.

1

2

3

. What is the best title for the passage.

(

A) The Lighthouse on Little Brewster Island

B) The Life of a Lighthouse Keeper

C) Early Lighthouses in the United States

D) The Modern Profession of Lighthouse Keeping

. Why does the author mention the Massachusetts Bay Colony?

(

A) It was the headquarters of the United States Lighthouse Board.

B) Many of the tallest lighthouses were built there.

C) The first lantern wicks were developed there.

D) The first lighthouse in North America was built there.

. It can be inferred from the passage that light-houses in the Northeast did not need high towers because

(

A) ships there had high masts

B) coastal waters were safe

C) the coast was straight and unobstructed

D) the lighthouse were built on high places

4. According to the passage. where can the tallest brick lighthouse in the United States be found?

(

A) Little Brewster Island

C) Cape Hatteras

(B) The Florida Keys

(D) Cape Cod

5

. In line 19, to which of the following does the word "They" refer?

A) Lighthouses (B) Differences (C) Quarters

(

(D) Features

19

PRACTICE TEST 50 – January 1992

6. It can be inferred from the passage that the Treasury Department, after assuming control of the

lighthouses, improved which of the following?

(

A) The training of the lighthouse keepers

C) The visibility of the lights

(B) The sturdiness of the lighthouses

(D) The locations of the lighthouses

7. Where in the passage does the author tell how lighthouses in the Northeast were fastened to the

surrounding rock?

(

A) Lines 3-4

(B) Line 12

(C) Lines 14-15

(D) Line 19

Passage 2

Homing pigeons are placed in a training program from about the time they are twenty-

eight days of age. They are taught to enter the loft through a trap and to exercise above and

around the loft, and gradually they are taken away for short distances in wicker baskets and

released. They are then expected to find their way home in the shortest possible time.

In their training flights or in actual races, the birds are taken to prearranged distant points

and released to find their way back to their own lofts. Once the birds are liberated, their owners,

who are standing by at the home lofts, anxiously watch the sky for the return of their entries.

Since time is of the essence, the speed with which the birds can be induced to enter the loft trap

may make the difference between gaining a win or a second place.

The head of a homing pigeon is comparatively small, but its brain is one quarter larger

than that of the ordinary pigeon. The homing pigeon is very intelligent and will persevere to the

point of stubbornness some have been known to fly a hundred miles off course to avoid a

storm.

Some homing pigeon experts claim that this bird is gifted with a form of built-in radar that

helps it find its own loft after hours of flight, for hidden under the head feathers are two very

sensitive ears, while the sharp, prominent eyes can see great distances in daytime.

Why do homing pigeons fly home? They are not unique in this inherent skill: it is found in

most migratory birds, in bees, ants, toads, and even turtles, which have been known to travel

hundreds of miles to return to their homes. But in the animal world. the homing pigeon alone

can be trusted with its freedom and trained to carry out the missions that people demand.

1. What is the purpose of the passage?

(

A) To convince the reader to buy a homing pigeon

B) To inform the reader about homing pigeons and their training

C) To protect homing pigeons against the threat of extinction

D) To encourage the owners of homing pigeons to set the birds free

2. According to the passage, what happens to homing pigeons when they are about a month old?

(

A) They are kept in a trap.

(B) They enter their first race.

C) They begin a training program.

(D) They get their wings clipped and marked.

3. In line 8, when the author states that the owners "anxiously watch the sky" there is the implication that the

owners

(

A) want their pigeon to win the race

B) are sending radar signals to their pigeons

C) do not know whether the race began on time

D) do not trust the rules set down by the judges

4. According to the passage, what is the difference between a homing pigeon and an ordinary one?

20

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

(

A) The span of the wings

(B) The shape of the eyes

(D) The size of the brain

C) The texture of the feathers

5

6

7

. The author mentions all of the following at tributes that enable a homing pigeon to return home EXCEPT

(

A) instinct

(B) air sacs

(C) sensitive ears

(D) good eyes

. In line 16, the pronoun "it" refers to which of the following?

A) Radar (B) Bird (C) Loft

(

(D) Form

. Why does the author mention bees, ants, toads, and turtles in the last paragraph?

(

A) To describe some unusual kinds of pets

B) To measure distances traveled by various animals

C) To compare their home-finding abilities with those of homing pigeons

D) To interest the reader in learning about other animals

Passage 3

Central Park, emerging from a period of abuse and neglect, remains one of the most

popular attractions in New York City, with half a million out-of-towners among the more than 3

million people who visit the park yearly. About 15 million individual visits are made each year.

Summer is the season for softball, concerts, and Shakespeare; fall is stunning; winter is

wonderful for sledding, skating, and skiing; and springtime is the loveliest of all. It was all

planned that way.

About 130 years ago Frederic Law Olmsted and his collaborator Calvert Vaux submitted

their landscaping plan for a rectangular parcel two miles north of the town' s center. The barren

swampy tract, home for squatters and a bone-boiling works that made glue, was reported as 'a

pestilential spot where miasmic odors taint every breath of air."It took 16 years for workers with

pickaxes and shovels to move 5 million cubic feet of earth and rock, and to plant half a million

trees and shrubs, making a tribute to nature-a romantic nineteenth-century perception of nature.

What exists today is essentially Olmsted and Vaux's plan. with more trees, buildings, and

asphalt. Landscape architects still speak reverently of Olmsted's genius and foresight, and the

sensitive visitor can see the effects he sought.

1. With what subject is the passage mainly concerned?

(

A) The lives of Olmsted and Vaux

B) New York City's tourist industry

C) Examples of nineteenth-century art in New York City

D) The development of Central Park

2

. According to the passage. which is the prettiest time of year in Central Park?

A) Winter (B) Spring (C) Summer

(

(D) Fall

3. It can be inferred that the rectangular parcel mentioned in line 9 is

(

A) the site of Central Park

(B) a gift presented to New York

C) a skyscraper in New York

(D) the proposed design for Central Park

4. According to the passage. before Olmsted and Vaux began their work, the area now occupied by Central

Park was

(

A) a romantic place

(B) an infertile, marshy space

(D) a baseball field

C) a green and hilly park

5

. It can be inferred from the passage that today's landscape architects praise Olmsted for his

A) enthusiasm for sport

(

21

PRACTICE TEST 50 – January 1992

(

B) skill at designing factories

C) concern for New York's homeless people

D) foresight in anticipating New York's urbanization

6. Where in the passage does the author mention unpleasant smells?

(

A) Lines 1-3 (B) Lines 5-7 (C) Lines 10-12

(D) Lines 15-16

Passage 4

The difference between a liquid and a gas is obvious under the conditions of temperature

and pressure commonly found at the surface of the Earth. A liquid can be kept in an open

container and fills it to the level of a free surface. A gas forms no free surface but tends to

diffuse throughout the space available; it must therefore be kept in a closed container or held by

a gravitation field, as in the case of a planet's atmosphere. The distinction was a prominent

feature of early theories describing the phases of matter. In the nineteenth century, for example.

one theory maintained that a liquid could be "dissolved" in a vapor without losing its identity. and

another theory held that the two phases are made up of different kinds of molecules:

liquidons and gasons. The theories now prevailing take a quite different approach by

emphasizing what liquids and gases have in common. They are both forms of matter that have

no permanent structure, and they both flow readily. They are fluids.

The fundamental similarity of liquids and gases becomes clearly apparent when the

temperature and pressure are raised somewhat. Suppose a closed container partially filled with

a liquid is heated. The liquid expands, or in other words becomes less dense; some of it

evaporates. In contrast, the vapor above the liquid surface becomes denser as the evaporated

molecules are added to it. The combination of temperature and pressure at which the densities

become equal is called the critical point. Above the critical point the liquid and the gas can no

longer be distinguished; there is a single, undifferentiated fluid phase of uniform density.

1. Which of the following would be the most appropriate title for the passage?

(

A) The Properties of Gases and Liquids

C) The Beginnings of Modern Physics

(B) High Temperature Zones on the Earth

(D) New Containers for Fluids

2. According to the passage, the difference between a liquid and a gas under normal conditions on Earth is

that the liquid

(

A) is affected by changes in pressure

C) forms a free surface

(B) has a permanent structure

(D) is considerably more common

3

4

5

. It can be inferred from the passage that the gases of the Earth's atmosphere are contained by

(

A) a closed surface

C) the field of space

(B) the gravity of the planet

(D) its critical point

. According to the passage, in the nineteenth century some scientists viewed liquidons and gasons as

(

A) fluids

(B) dissolving particles

C) heavy molecules

(D) different types of molecules

. According to the passage, what happens when the temperature is increased in a closed container holding

a liquid?

(

A) The liquid and gas phases become more similar.

B) The liquid and the gas become less dense.

C) The container expands.

D) The liquid evaporates out of the container.

6. According to the passage, which of the following is the best definition of the critical point?

(

A) When the temperature and the pressure are raised

22

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

(

B) When the densities of the two phases are equal

C) When the pressure and temperature are combined

D) When the container explodes

Passage 5

Lucinda Childs's spare and orderly dances have both mystified and mesmerized

audiences for more than a decade. Like other so-called "postmodern" choreographers. Childs

sees dance as pure form Her dances are mathematical explorations of geometric shapes, and

her dancers are expressionless, genderless instruments who etch intricate patterns on the floor

in precisely timed. repetitive sequences of relatively simple steps. The development of Childs's

career, from its beginning in the now legendary Judson Dance Theater. paralleled the

development of minimalist art, although the choreographer herself has taken issue with those

critics who describe her work as minimalist. In her view, each of her dances is simply "an

intense experience of intense looking and listening," in addition to performing with her troupe,

the Lucinda Childs Dance Company. Childs has appeared in the avant-garde opera Einstein on

the Beach, in two of Broadway plays, and in the films Jeonne d'Iman by Marie Jimenez and

21:12 Piano Bor.

As a little girl, Childs had dreamed of becoming an actress. She appeared regularly in

student productions throughout her school years, and when she was about eleven she began to

take drama lessons. it was at the suggestion of her acting coach that the youngster, who was,

by her own admission. "clumsy, shapeless, and on the heavy side." enrolled in a dancing class

Among her early teachers were Hanya Holm. the dancer and choreographer who introduced the

Wigman system of modern dance instruction to the United States, and Helen Tamiris, the

Broadway choreographer. Pleased with her pupil's progress. Ms. Tamiris eventually asked the

girl to perform onstage. After that exhilarating experience, Lucinda Childs "wasn't sure [she]

even wanted to be an actress anymore.

1

2

3

4

. What is the passage mainly about?

(

A) Minimalist art

(B) Mathematical forms

(D) Broadway plays

C) A choreographer

. The word "its" in line 6 refers to

(

A) career

C) steps

(B) development

(D) the Judson Dance Theater

. The work of Lucinda Childs has been compared to which of the following?

(

A) Avant-garde opera

C) Realistic drama

(B) The Wigman system

(D) Minimalist art

. In which artistic field did Childs first study

A) Painting (B) Dance

(

(C) Drama

(D) Film

23

PRACTICE TEST 51

May 1992

Passage 1

In 1781 twelve families trooped north from Mexico to California. On a stream along the

desert's edge they built a settlement called Los Angeles. For many years it was a market town

where nearby farmers and ranchers met to trade.

Then in 1876 a railroad linked Los Angeles to San Francisco and, through San Francisco

to the rest of the country. The next year farmers sent their first trainload of oranges east. By a

new railroad provided a direct route between Los Angeles and Chicago.

Then in the 1890 's oil was discovered in the city. As derricks went up, workers built many

highways and pipe lines. Digging began on a harbor that would make Los Angeles not only an

ocean port but also a fishing center. The harbor was completed in 1914. That year the Panama

Canal opened. Suddenly Los Angeles was the busiest port on the Pacific Coast.

Today the city is the main industrial center in the West. It produces goods not only for

other West Coast communities but also for those in other parts of the country. It leads the nation

in making air planes and equipment for exploring outer space. Many motion pictures and

television programs are filmed in Los Angeles. The city is also the business center for states in

the West Improvements in transportation are the main reason for Los Angeles' growth

1. According to the passage what was the main commercial activity of Los Angeles during the years directly

following its settlement?

(

A) Fruit growing

C) Fishing

(B) Oil drilling

(D) Trading

2. According to the passage in which year were oranges first shipped from Los Angeles to the East Coast by

train?

(

A) 1781

(B) 1876

(C) 1877

(D) 1890

3. San Francisco is mentioned in the passage for which of the following reasons?

(

A) The settlers who founded Los Angles came from San Francisco.

B) San Francisco linked Los Angeles with the rest of the country

C) San Francisco was a market town where farmers came to trade.

D) Oil was discovered in San Francisco in the 1890's.

4. Where in the passage does the author state the principal cause of the expansion of Los Angeles?

(

A) Line 5 (B) Line 7 (C) Line 11 (D) Lines 15-16

Passage 3

24

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

The term 'virus is derived from the Latin word for poison. or slime. It was originally applied

to the noxious stench emanating from swamps that was thought to cause a variety of diseases

in the centuries before microbes were discovered and specifically linked to illness. But it was not

until almost the end of the nineteenth century that a true virus was proven to be the cause of a

disease.

The nature of viruses made them impossible to detect for many years even after bacteria

had been discovered and studied. Not only are viruses too small to be seen with a light

microscope, they also cannot be detected through their biological activity, except as it occurs in

conjunction with other organisms. In fact, viruses show no traces of biological activity by

themselves. Unlike bacteria, they are not living agents in the strictest sense Viruses are very

simple pieces of organic material composed only of nucleic acid, either DNA or RNA, enclosed

in a coat of protein made up of simple structural units.(Some viruses also contain carbohydrates

and lipids.) They are parasites, requiring human, animal, or plant cells to live. The virus

replicates by attaching to a cell and injecting its nucleic acid.' once inside the cell, the DNA or

RNA that contains the virus' genetic information takes over the cell's biological machinery, and

the cell begins to manufacture viral proteins rather than its own.

1. Which of the following is the best title for the passage.

(

A) New Developments in Viral Research

(B) Exploring the Causes of Disease

(D) Understanding Viruses

C) DNA: Nature‟s Building Block

2. Before microbes were discovered It was believed that some diseases were caused by

(

A) germ-carrying insects

(B) certain strains of bacteria

C) foul odors released from swamps

(D) slimy creatures living near swamps

3

4

5

. The word "proven" in line 4 is closest meaning to which of the following.

(

A) Shown (B) Feared (C) Imagined

(D) Considered

(D) Speed

. The word nature" in line 6 is closest in meaning to which of the following?

A) Self-sufficiency (B) Shapes (C) Characteristics

(

. The author implies that bacteria were investigated earlier than viruses because

(

A) bacteria are easier to detect

(B) bacteria are harder to eradicate

(D) viruses are found only in hot climates

C) viruses are extremely poisonous

6. All of the following may be components of a virus EXCEPT

(

A) RNA (B) plant cells (C) carbohydrates

(D) a coat of protein

Passage 4

Dancer Martha Graham trained her body to move in different ways and in different

contexts from any before attempted, "life today is nervous, sharp, and zigzag," she said. "It

often stops in midair. That is what I aim for in my dances." She insists she never started out to

be a rebel. It was only that the emotions she had to express could not be projected through any

of the traditional forms.

This was in 1925. All forms of art were undergoing a revolution. The theories of

psychology were being used to extend the boundaries of poetry, music, and painting.

Martha Graham's debut dance concert in her new idiom occurred on April 18, 1926.

Connoisseurs of dance, gathered at the Forty-eighth Street Theater in New York, witnessed

Martha Graham's first foray into this new realm of dance. They saw, through such dance

sequences as "Three Gobi Maidens." and "A Study in Lacquer, desires and conflicts expressed

25

PRACTICE TEST 51 – May 1992

through bodily movements. These critics agreed that something entirely new. a departure from

all previous forms, had been witnessed.

In the early thirties, she founded the. Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance.

Her classes were used as a laboratory for her stage works, and her stage works in turn were a

means for attaching new pupils to her school-a sort of self-winding process, with herself as the

key to the development.

Martha Graham and the school she has founded are virtually synonymous with the

modern dance. She had not only produced a technique of the dance. choreographed and taught

it, but her disciples have gone out to fill the modern dance world.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss.

(

A) Martha Graham' S development of modern dance

B) The revolution of art forms in the i920' s

C) A dancer's view of life

D) The Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance

2

3

4

. It can be inferred from the passage that in the beginning of her career, Martha Graham‟s mode of dance

was

(

A) readily accepted

C) virtually ignored

(B) considered rebellious

(D) accepted only in New York

. It can be inferred from the passage that Martha Graham's style of dance differed from traditional dance in

the

(

A) type of movements

C) variety of themes

(B) speed of the performance

(D) ages of the performers

. In lines 16, the author uses the phrase "a sort of self-winding process" to illustrate

(

A) the new steps Graham developed for dance

B) the relationship between Graham's performances and her school

C) the discipline demanded in Graham's school

D) the physical endurance of Graham' 3 dancers

5. According to the passage, what is the present status of Martha Graham's work?

(

A) It is historically interesting, but is no longer popular.

B) It has evolved into something completely different.

C) It is carried on by her students.

D) It causes heated debates

Passage 5

If the salinity of ocean waters is analyzed. it is found to vary only slightly from place to

place. Nevertheless. some of these small changes are important. There are three basic

processes that cause a change in oceanic salinity. One of these is the subtraction of water from

the ocean by means of evaporation-conversion of liquid water to water vapor. In this manner.

the salinity is increased. since the salts stay behind. If this is carried to the extreme. of course.

white crystals of salt would be left behind: this. by the way. is how much of the table salt we use

is actually obtained.

The opposite of evaporation is precipitation. such as rain. by which water is added to the

ocean. Here the ocean is being diluted so that the salinity is decreased. This may occur in areas

of high rainfall or in coastal regions where rivers flow into the ocean. Thus salinity may be

26

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

increased by the subtraction of water by evaporation. or decreased by the addition of fresh

water by precipitation or runoff.

Normally in tropical regions where the Sun is very strong, the ocean salinity is somewhat

higher than it is in other parts of the world where there is not as much evaporation. Similarly, in

coastal regions where rivers dilute the sea salinity is somewhat lower than in other oceanic

areas.

A third process by which salinity may be altered is associated with the formation and

melting of sea ice. When seawater is frozen, the dissolved materials are left behind. In this

manner. seawater directly beneath freshly formed sea ice has a higher salinity than it did before

the ice appeared. Of course. when this ice melts, it will tend to decrease the salinity of the

surrounding water.

In the Weddell Sea, off Antarctica, the densest water in the oceans is formed as a result

of this freezing process, which increases the salinity of cold water. This heavy water sinks and is

found in the deeper portions of the oceans of the world.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(

A) The bodies of water of the world

C) The many forms of ocean life

(B) The elements of salt

(D) The salinity of ocean water

2

3

4

. According to the passage, the ocean generally has more salt in

(

A) coastal areas (B) tropical areas (C) rainy areas

(D) turbulent areas

. All of the following are processes that decrease salinity EXCEPT

A) evaporation (B) precipitation (C) runoff

(

(D) melting

. Which of the following statements about the salinity of a body of water can best be inferred from the

passage?

(

A) The temperature of the water is the most important factor.

B) How quickly the water moves is directly related to the amount of alt.

C) Ocean salinity has little effect on sea life.

D) Various factors combine to cause variations in the salt content of water.

5

. The word "it" in line 19 refers to which of the following?

A) Sea ice (B) Salinity

(

(C) Seawater

(D) Manner

6. Why does the author mention the Weddell Sea?

(

A) To show that this body of water has salinity variations

B) To compare Antarctic waters with Arctic waters

C) To give an example of cold-water salinity

D) To point out the location of deep waters

7. Which of the following is NOT a result of the formation of ocean ice?

(

A) The salt remains in the water

C) Water salinity decreases

(B) The surrounding water sinks

(D) The water becomes denser

8. What can be inferred about the water near the bottom of oceans?

(

A) It is relatively warm.

C) It does not move.

(B) Its salinity is relatively high.

(D) It is formed by melting sea ice.

27

PRACTICE TEST 52

August 1992

Passage 1

Passage 2

The oldest living things on Earth are trees. Some of California's sequoias have for four

thousand years looked down on the changes in the landscape and the comings and goings of

humans. They sprouted from tiny seeds about the time the Egyptian pyramids were being built.

Today these giant patriarchs seem as remote and inaccessible as the rocks and mountain cliffs

on which they grow, like cathedral columns holding up the sky. It is hard to imagine them

playing any part in the lives of mere humans or being in any way affected by the creatures that

pass at their feet.

Lesser trees, however, have played an intimate role in the lives of people since they first

appeared on Earth. Trees fed the fires that warmed humans: they provided shelter, food and

medicine and even clothing. They also shaped people's spiritual horizons. Trees expressed the

grandeur and mystery of life, as they moved through the cycle of seasons, from life to death and

back to life again. Trees were the largest living things around humans and they knew that some

trees had been standing on the same spot in their parent's and grandparents' time, and would

continue to stand long after they were gone. No wonder these trees became symbols of

strength, fruitfulness, and everlasting life.

1. What is the main idea of the passage?

(

A) Trees grow to great heights.

B) Trees have been important to people throughout history.

C) Trees make humans seem superior

D) Trees that grow in California are very old.

2

. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as a way in which people have used trees?

A) For furniture (B) For fuel (C) For housing (D) For nourishment

(

3. In line 4, the phrase "giant patriarchs" could best be replaced by which of the following?

(

A) tiny seeds

(B) important leaders

(D) Egyptian pyramids

C) towering trees

4

5

6

. In line 11, the word "they" refers to which of the following?

(

A) Trees

(B) Grandeur and mystery

C) Seasons

(D) People's spiritual horizons

. The author implies that, compared with sequoias, other trees have

(

A) been in existence longer

(B) adapted more readily to their environments

(D) had a closer relationship with people

C) been affected more by animals

. Where in the passage does the author make a comparison between trees and parts of a building?

A) Line 1 (B) Lines 4-5 (C) Lines 9-11 (D) Lines 12-14

(

Passage 3

28

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

Martha Graham's territory of innumerable dances and a self-sufficient dance technique is

a vast but closed territory, since to create an art out of one's experience alone ~ ultimately ~

self-limiting act. If there had been other choreographers with Graham's gifts and her stature, her

work might have seemed a more balanced part of the story of American dance. but as she built

her repertory, her own language seemed to shut out all other kinds. Even when an audience

thinks it discerns traces of influence from other dance styles, the totality of Graham's theatrical

idiom, its control of costumes. lights. and every impulse of the dance makes the reference seem

a mirage. Dance is not her main subject. It is only her servant.

Graham had achieved her autonomy by 1931. By that time. three giant figures who had

invented the new twentieth-century dance were dead: Sergei Diaghilev, Anna Pavlova, and

Isadora Duncan. Their era ended with them, and their dance values nearly disappeared. Their

colleagues Michel Fokine and Ruth St. Denis lived on in America like whales on the beach.

During the twenties, Martha Graham and her colleagues had rescued art-dance from vaudeville

and movies and musical comedy and all the resonances of the idyllic mode in the United States,

but in so doing they closed the channels through which different kinds of dance could speak to

one another-and these' stayed closed for half a century. Modem dance dedicated itself to deep

significance. It gave up lightness it gave up a wealth of exotic color, it gave up a certain kind of

theatrical wit and that age-old mobile exchange between a dancer and the dancer's rhythmical

and musical material. No material in modem dance was neutral. The core of the art became an

obsession with meaning and allegory as expressed in bodies. Modern dance excluded its own

theatrical traditions of casual play, gratuitous liveliness, the spontaneous pretense, and the

rainbow of genres that had formed it. But all these things survived in the public domain, where

they had always lived, and they have continued to surface in American dance, if only by

accident.

1. What is the main purpose of the passage?

(

A) To discuss Martha Graham's influences on modem dance

B) To trace the origins of different dance techniques

C) To argue the role of modem dance as an artistic form of expression

D) To compare several famous women choreographers of the twentieth century

2. According to the passage, which of the following most influenced Martha Graham's dances and

techniques?

(

A) Her own experiences

(B) Exotic and idyllic themes

C) Familiar classical stories

(D) The works of St. Denis and Duncan

3. It can be inferred from the passage that Martha Graham had become famous by

(

A) the beginning of the nineteenth century

C) the early 1920's

(B) the end of the nineteenth century

(D) the early 1930's

4. In lines 12-13, the author uses the phrase "like whales on the beach" to indicate that Fokine and St. Denis

were

(

A) good swimmers

C) out of place

(B) physically large

(D) very sick

5. In lines 13-16, what criticism does the author make of Martha Graham and her colleagues?

(

A) They patterned much of their choreographic style after vaudeville.

B) They insisted that all dancers learn the same foreign choreographic style.

C) They adopted the same dance values of the previous era without interjecting any new ideas.

D) They prevented modern dance from expanding beyond their personal interpretations.

Passage 4

29

PRACTICE TEST 52 – August 1992

The invention of the incandescent light bulb by Thomas A. Edison in 1879 created a

demand for a cheap, readily available fuel with which to generate large amounts of electric

power. Coal seemed to fit the bill, and it fueled the earliest power stations(which were set up at

the end Of the nineteenth century by Edison himself). As more power plants were constructed

throughout the country, the reliance on coal increased. Since the First World War, coal-fired

power plants have accounted for about half of the electricity produced in the United States each

year. In 1986 such plants had a combined generating capacity of 289,000 megawatts and

consumed 33 percent of the nearly 900 million tons of coal mined in the country that year. Given

the uncertainty in the future growth of nuclear power and in the supply of oil and natural gas,

coal-fired power plants could well provide up to 70 percent of the electric power in the United

States by the end of the century.

Yet, in spite of the fact that coal has long been a source of electricity and may remain one

for many years (coal represents about 80 percent of United States fossil-fuel reserves), it has

actually never been the most desirable fossil fuel for power plants. Coal contains less energy

per unit of weight than natural gas or oil; it is difficult to transport, and it is associated with a host

of environmental issues, among them acid rain. Since the late 1960's problems of emission

control and waste disposal have sharply reduced the appeal of coal-fired power plants. The cost

of ameliorating these environmental problems, along with the rising cost of building a facility as

large and complex as a coal-fired power plant, has also made such plants less attractive from a

purely economic perspective.

Changes in the technological base of coal fired power plants could restore their

attractiveness, however. Whereas some of these changes are evolutionary and are intended

mainly to increase the productivity of existing plants, completely new technologies for burning

coal cleanly are also being developed.

1. What is the main idea of the passage?

(

A) Coal-fired plants are an important source of electricity in the United States and are likely to remain so.

B) Generating electricity from coal is comparatively recent in the United States.

C) Coal is a more economical fuel than either oil or nuclear power.

D) Coal is a safer and more dependable fossil fuel than oil or gas.

2. Edison's electric light bulb is mentioned in the passage because it

(

A) replaced gas as a light source

B) increased the need for electrical power

C) was safer than any other method of lighting

D) could work only with electricity generated from coal

3. It can be inferred from the passage that coal became the principal source of electricity in the United

States, because it

(

A) required no complicated machinery

C) was easy to transport

(B) was comparatively plentiful and inexpensive

(D) burned efficiently

4. In the author's opinion, the importance of coal-generated electricity could increase in the future for which

of the following reasons?

(

A) The possible substitutes are too dangerous.

B) The cost of changing to other fuels is too great.

C) The future availability of other fuels is uncertain.

D) Other fuels present too many environmental problems.

5. Acid rain is mentioned in the passage for which of the following reasons?

(

A) It reduces the efficiency of coal-fired plants

30

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

(

B) It increases the difficulty of transporting coal

C) It is an environmental problem associated with coal use

D) It contains less energy per unit of weight than coal does

6. According to the passage, which of the following is one of the goals of the new technology in coal-fired

plants?

(

A) To adapt the plants to other kinds of fuel

B) To reduce the cost of building more plants

C) To lengthen the lives of plants already in use

D) To make the plants already in use more productive

7. Where in the passage is there a reference to the establishment of the first electric power stations?

(

A) Lines 3-4

(B) Lines 5-7

C) Lines 9-11

(D) Lines 16-18

Passage 5

The military aspect of the United States Civil War has always attracted the most attention

from scholars. The roar of gunfire, the massed movements of uniformed men, the shrill of

bugles, and the drama of hand-to-hand combat have fascinated students of warfare for a

century. Behind the lines, however life was 1e53 spectacular. It was the story of back-breaking

labor to provide the fighting men with food and arms, of nerve-tingling uncertainty about the

course of national events, of heartbreak over sons or brothers or husbands lost in battle. If the

men on the firing line won the victories the. means to those victories were forged on the home

front.

Never in the nation's history had Americans worked harder for victory than in the Civil

War. Northerners and Southerners alike threw themselves into the task of supplying their

respective armies. Both governments made tremendous demands upon civilians and, in

general, received willing cooperation.

By 1863 the Northern war economy was rumbling along in high gear. Everything from

steamboats to shovels was needed-and produced. Denied Southern cotton, textile mills turned

to wool for blankets and uniforms. Hides by the hundreds of thousands were turned into shoes

and harness and saddles; ironworks manufactured locomotives, ordnance, armor plate. Where

private enterprise lagged, the government set up its own factories or arsenals. Agriculture

boomed, with machinery doing the job of farm workers drawn into the army.

In short, everything that a nation needed to fight a modern war was produced in

uncounted numbers. Inevitably there were profiteers with gold-headed canes and flamboyant

diamond stickpins, but for every crooked tycoon there were thousands of ordinary citizens living

on fixed incomes who did their best to cope with rising prices and still make a contribution to the

war effort. Those who could bought war bonds: others knitted, sewed, nursed or lent any other

assistance in their power.

1. With what topic is the passage primarily concerned?

(

A) Why the South lost the Civil War

B) The causes of the Civil War

C) Where the Civil War battles were fought

D) The civilian response to the Civil

2

. According to the passage, during the Civil War the South no longer provided the North with

A) cotton (B) wool (C) hides (D) shoes

(

31

PRACTICE TEST 52 – August 1992

3. In line 15, the word "Hides" is closest in meaning to which of the following?

(

A) Animal skins

C) Disguises

(B) Tree trunks

(D) Shelters

4

. In line 21, the word "crooked" could best be replaced by which of the following?

A) twisted (B) dishonest (C) uneven

(

(D) distorted

5. The author implies that students of the Civil War usually concentrate on the

(

A) home front

C) government

(B) battlefield

(D) economy

6. Where in the passage does the author mention a contribution made by the government to the war

economy?

(

A) Line 4

(B) Lines 11-12

(D) Lines 19-20

C) Line 17

32

PRACTICE TEST 53

October 1992

Passage 1

Passage 2

Although great natural barriers hindered east-west development in Canada, this

circumstance was mitigated by the mighty river and lake systems that provided avenues for the

fur trader, missionary, soldier, and settler. Canada's rivers and lakes allowed and, indeed,

invited venturesome pioneers to explore the interior of the continent and in spite of natural

barriers, to tap its great wealth. The rivers and lakes were essential to the great fur empire;

people in canoes brought furs from the farthest extremity of the Canadian Shield to Montreal for

exportation to Europe. The first settlements spread along the rivers, since only the rivers

provided transportation and communication. Militarily, rivers and lakes were of prime

importance; whoever controlled the St. Lawrence and its entrance also controlled Canada.

1. What is the main subject of the passage?

(

A) The barriers to east-west communication in Canada

B) The role of rivers and lakes in Canadian development'

C) The adventures of Canadian settlers

D) The development of the Canadian fur empire

2

3

4

5

. Which would be an example of the type of barrier the author refers to in line I ?

(

A) A military fort

(B) An ancient feud

C) A political border

(D) A mountain range

. According to the passage, rivers and lakes were important in the fur trade as

(

A) habitats for fur-bearing animals

C) transportation routes

(B) sources of water

(D) natural fortifications

. In line 6, the word "extremity" means

(

A) a limb of the body

C) the greatest degree

(B) a severe measure

(D) the most distant part

. According to the passage, what pattern of expansion did the first settlements follow?

(

A) They moved directly from east to west.

B) They advanced along the Canadian Shield.

C) They followed the course of the rivers.

D) They spread around the perimeter of lakes.

6. The author uses the example of the St. Lawrence mainly to illustrate the role of rivers and lakes in

(

A) urban settlement

(B) economic development

(D) military control

C) agricultural research

7. In the passage. the author pays LEAST attention to the work of

(

A) traders

C) soldiers

(B) missionaries

(D) settlers

33

PRACTICE TEST 53 – October 1992

Passage 3

Stars have been significant features in the design of many United States coins and their

number has varied from one to forty-eight stars. Most of the coins issued from about 1799 to the

early years of the twentieth century bore thirteen stars representing the thirteen original

colonies.

Curiously enough, the first American silver coins, issued in, 1794, had fifteen stars

because by that time Vermont and Kentucky had joined the Union. At that time it was apparently

the intention of mint officials to add a star for each new state. Following the admission of

Tennessee in 1796, for example, some varieties of half dimes, dimes, and half-dollars were

produced with sixteen stars.

As more states were admitted to the Union, however, it quickly became apparent that this

scheme would not prove practical and the coins from 1798 on were issued with only thirteen

stars-one for each of the original colonies. Due to an error at the mint, one variety of the 1828

half cent was issued with only twelve stars. There is also a variety of the large cent with only 12

stars, but this is the result of a die break and is not a true error.

1. What is the main topic of the passage?

(

A) The teaching of astronomy in state universities

B) Stars on American coins

C) Colonial stamps and coins

D) The star as national symbol of the United States

2

3

4

. The word "their" in line 1 refers to

(

A) stars (B) features

(C) coins

(D) colonies

. The word "bore" in line 3 is closest in meaning to which of the following?

A) Carried (B) Drilled (C) Cost

(

(D) Symbolized

. The expression “Curiously enough” is used in line 5 because the author finds it strange that

(

A) silver coins with fifteen stars appeared before coins with thirteen

B) Vermont and Kentucky joined the Union in 1794

C) no silver coins were issue until 1794

D) Tennessee was the first state to use half dimes

5. Which of the following can be inferred about the order in which Kentucky, Tennessee, and Vermont joined

the Union?

(

A) Vermont and Kentucky joined at the same time.

A) Kentucky joined before Tennessee and Vermont.

C) Tennessee joined after Vermont and Kentucky.

D) Vermont joined after Tennessee and Kentucky.

6. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as the denomination of an American coin?

(

A) Half cent

(B) Half nickel

(C) Half dime

(D) Half- dollar

7. Why was a coin produced in 1828 with only twelve stars?

(

A) There were twelve states at the time.

C) Tennessee had left the Union.

(B) There was a change in design policy.

(D) The mint made a mistake.

34

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

Passage 5

In spite of the wealth of examples of urban architecture in older cities, both in Europe and

in the United States solutions to current problems of the physical decay of cities in the United

States have come slowly. The first reaction after the war was to bulldoze and build bright new

towers and efficient roadways, but these solutions did not respond to people By the close of the

1960's it became more common to deal gently with the' existing' urban fabric and to insert new

buildings in such a way as to complement the physical and social environment; in other cases

valued buildings have been rehabilitated and returned to economic productivity. A particularly

striking example is the rehabilitation of Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco. This, hillside mélange

of nineteenth-century commercial buildings clustered around a chocolate plant, was purchased

in 1962 by William Roth to forestall wholesale development of the waterfront as a district of

high-rent apartment towers. Nearly all of the nineteenth-century buildings were retained and

refurbished, and a low arcade was added on the waterside. There are several levels, dotted

with kiosks and fountains, which offer varied prospects of San Francisco Bay. Perhaps most

telling is the preservation of the huge Ghirardelli sign as an important landmark; it is such

improbable, irrational, and cherished idiosyncrasies which give cities identity and character.

1

2

3

4

5

. The author's main purpose in the passage is to describe

(

A) the differences between urban architecture in Europe and in the United States

B) the most striking features of San Francisco's scenic waterfront district

C) nineteenth-century buildings in twentieth-century cities

D) characteristics of recent solutions to urban architectural problems in the United States

. According to the passage, after the war many of the attempts of urban architects failed because

(

A) buildings were not built quickly enough

B) new roads required too much space

C) the needs of the urban residents were overlooked

D) the towering buildings were too tall

. The author discusses Ghirardelli Square in order to illustrate which of the following procedures?

(

A) The construction of new buildings to conceal older structures

B) The selective removal of old buildings to create space for residential units

C) The 'restoration of old buildings to make them commercially useful

D) The demolition of apartment towers to make way for more attractive construction

. According to the passage, the Ghirardelli sign was preserved because it

(

A) was designed and built by a famous artist

B) is included in an advertising contract with the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company

C) is suitable as a vantage point from which to view San Francisco Bay

D) has long-standing importance as a' symbol in the community

. The sentence in lines 14-16 would best keep its meaning if "most telling" were replaced by

(

A) most significant

C) most debatable

(B) in greatest demand'

(D) the best publicized

35

PRACTICE TEST 54

January 1991

Passage 1

By the late nineteenth century, the focus for the engineers and builders of tunnels was

beginning to shift from Europe to the United States and especially New York, where the rivers

encircling Manhattan captured the imagination of tunnelers and challenged their ingenuity. The

first to accept the challenge was a somewhat mysterious Californian named DeWitt Clinton

Haskin, who turned up in New York in the 1870's with a proposal to tunnel through the silt under

the Hudson River between Manhattan and Jersey City.

Haskin eventually abandoned the risky project. But a company organized by William

McAdoo resumed the attack in I 902, working from both directions. McAdoo‟s men were forced

to blast when they ran into an unexpected ledge of rock, but with this obstacle surmounted. the

two headings met in 1904 and McAdoo donned oilskins to become the Hudson‟s first

underwater bank - to - bank pedestrian. World' s Work magazine proudly reported in 1906 that

New York could now be described as a body of land surrounded by tunnels Three one - way

shafts beneath the Hudson and two under the Harlem River were already holed through; three

more Hudson tubes were being built. Eight separate tunnels were under construction beneath

the East River.

1. According to the passage, DeWitt Clinton Haskin came from

A) Jersey City

(B) Europe

(C) California

(D) New York

2. What does the author imply about DeWitt Clinton Haskin's background?

(

A) It did not qualify him to handle explosives.

B) It was not something people knew much about.

C) It included diverse work experiences.

D) It included many inferior projects.

3

. According to the passage, when did William McAdoo begin to work on the Hudson River tunnel?

(

4. According to the passage, the workers tunneling for William McAdoo were surprised to find which of the

following where they were working?

(

A) Oil

(B) Silt

(C) Rock

(D) Shafts

5. The quotation from World' s Work magazine in line 12 introduces facts about

(

A) cities that were building new tunnels to Manhattan

B) people' s concern eve the weakening of the city's foundation

C) the role of New York City in promoting engineering

D) the number of tunnels being built at the time

6. Where in the passage does the author refer to the first person to walk beneath the Hudson River?

(

A) Lines 1 – 3

C) Lines 8 – 11

(B) Lines 4 – 6

(D) Lines 14 – 15

Passage 2

36

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

Icebergs are among nature‟s most spectacular creations, and yet most people have never

seen one. A vague air of mystery envelops them. They come into being somewhere-in faraway,

frigid waters, amid thunderous noise and splashing turbulence, which in most cases no one

hears or sees. They exist only a short time and then slowly waste away just a unnoticed.

Objects of sheerest beauty, they have been called. Appearing in an endless variety of

shapes they may be dazzlingly white, or they may be glassy blue, green. or purple, tinted faintly

or in darker hues. They are graceful, stately, inspiring-in calm, sunlit seas.

But they are also called frightening and dangerous, and that they are-in the night, in the

fog, and in storms. Even in clear weather one is wise to stay a safe distance away from them.

Most of their bulk is hidden below the water, so their underwater parts may extend out far

beyond the visible top. Also, they may roll over unexpectedly, churning the waters around them.

Icebergs are parts of glaciers that break off, drift into the water, float about awhile, and

finally melt. Icebergs afloat today are made of snowflakes that have fallen over long ages of

time. They embody snows that drifted down hundreds, or many thousands, or in some cases

maybe a million years ago. The snows fell in polar regions and on cold mountains, where they

melted only a little or not at all, and so collected to great depths over the years and centuries.

As each year‟s snow accumulation lay on the surface, evaporation and melting caused

the snowflakes slowly to lose their feathery points and become tiny grains of ice. When new

snow fell on top of the old, it too turned to icy grains. So blankets of snow and ice grains

mounted layer upon layer and were of such great thickness that the weight of the upper layers

compressed the lower ones. With time and pressure from above, the many small ice grains

joined and changed to larger crystals, and eventually the deeper crystals merged into a solid

mass of ice.

1. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

(

A) The Melting of Icebergs

(B) The Nature and Origin of Icebergs

(D) The Dangers of Icebergs

C) The Size and Shape of Icebergs

2. The author states that icebergs are rarely seen because they are

(

A) surrounded by fog

B) hidden beneath the mountains

C) located in remote regions of the world

D) broken by waves soon after they are formed

3

. The passage mentions all of the following colors for icebergs EXCEPT

A) yellow (B) blue (C) green

(

(D) purple

4. According to the passage, icebergs are dangerous because they

(

A) usually melt quickly

(B) can turn over very suddenly

(D) can cause unexpected avalanches

C) may create immense snowdrifts

5. According to the passage, icebergs originate from a buildup of

(

A) turbulent water

(B) feathers

C) underwater pressure

(D) snowflakes

6. The formation of an iceberg is most clearly analogous to which of the following activities?

(

A) Walking on fluffy new snow, causing it to become more compact and icy

B) Plowing large areas of earth, leaving the land flat and barren

C) Skating across a frozen lake and leaving a trail behind

D) Blowing snow into one large pile to clear an area

7. In line 23, the expression "from above" refers to

37

PRACTICE TEST 54 – January 1991

(

A) sunlit seas

(B) polar regions

C) weight of mountains

(D) layers of ice and snow

8. The attitude of the author toward icebergs is one of

(

A) disappointment (B) humor

(C) disinterest

(D) wonder

Passage 3

Born in 1830 in rural Amherst, Massachusetts, Emily Dickinson spent her entire life in the

household of her parents. Between 1858 and 1862, it was later discovered, she wrote like a

person possessed, often producing a poem a day. It was also during this period that her life was

transformed into the myth of Amherst.

Withdrawing more and more, keeping to her room sometimes even refusing to see

visitors who called, she began to dress only in white-a habit that added to her reputation as an

eccentric.

In their determination to read Dickinson's life in terms of a traditional romantic plot

biographers have missed the unique pattern of her life-her struggle to create a female life not

yet imagined by the culture in which she lived. Dickinson was not the innocent, lovelorn and

emotionally fragile girl sentimentalized by the Dickinson myth and popularized by William Luce‟s

1976 play, The BeIle of Amherst. Her decision to shut the door on Amherst society in the 1950's

transformed her house into a kind of magical realm in which she was free to engage her poetic

genius. Her seclusion was not the result of a failed love affairs but rather a part of a more

general pattern of renunciation through which she, in her quest for self – sovereignty, carried on

an argument with the Puritan fathers, attacking with wit and irony their cheerless Calvinist

doctrine, their stern patriarchal God, and their rigid notions of "true womanhood."

1. What is the author's main purpose in the passage?

(

A) To interpret Emily Dickinson‟s eccentric behavior

B) To promote the popular myth of Emily Dickinson

C) To discuss Emily Dickinson's failed love affair

D) To describe the religious climate in Emily Dickinson's time

2

3

4

5

. According to the passage, the period from 1858 to 1862 was for Emily Dickinson a period of great

(

A) tragedy

(B) sociability

(D) frivolity

C) productivity

. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as being one of Emily Dickinson' s eccentricities?

(

A) Refusing to eat

C) Avoiding visitors

(B) Wearing only write

(D) Staying in her room

. According to the passage, biographers of Emily Dickinson have traditionally

(

A) criticized most of her poems

C) seen her life in romantic terms

(B) ignored her innocence and emotional fragility

(D) blamed her parents for restricting her activities

. Why does the author mention William Luce's play The Belle of Amherst?

(

A) To give an example of the sentimentalized Emily Dickinson myth

B) To show how popular Emily Dickinson's poems have become

C) To show that Emily Dickinson was also an actress

D) To illustrate the theatrical quality of Emily Dickinson's poems

6. The author implies that many people attribute Emily Dickinson's seclusion to

38

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

(

A) physical illness

C) religious fervor

(B) a failed love affair

(D) her dislike of people

7. The author suggests all of the following as reasons for Emily Dickinson's unusual behavior EXCEPT the

(

A) struggle to create a new female identity

B) desire to develop her genius undisturbed

C) search for her own independence

D) attempt to draw attention to her poetry

8. It can be inferred from the passage that Emily Dickinson lived in a society that was characterized by

(

A) strong Puritan beliefs

B) equality of men and women

C) the encouragement of nonconformity

D) the appreciation of poetic creativity

Passage 4

Native Americans from the southeastern part of what is now the United States believed

that the universe in which they lived was made up of three separate, but related, worlds, the

Upper World, the Lower World, and This World. In the last there lived humans, most animals,

and all plants.

This World, a round island resting on the surface of waters, was suspended from the sky

by four cords attached to the island at the four cardinal 'points of the compass. Lines drawn to

connect the opposite points of the compass, from north to south and from east to west,

intersected This World to divide it into four wedge - shaped segments. Thus a' symbolic

representation of the human world was a cross within a circle, the cross representing the

intersecting lines and the circle the shape of This World.

Each segment of This World was identified by its own color. According to Cherokee

doctrine,' east was associated with the color red because it was the direction of the Sun, the

greatest deity of all. Red was also the color of fire, believed to be directly connected with the

Sun, with blood, and therefore' with life. Finally, red was the color of success. The west was the

Moon segment; it provided no warmth and was not life - giving as the Sun was. So its color was

black. North was the direction of cold, and so its color was blue (sometimes purple), and it

represented trouble and defeat. South was the direction of warmth, its color, white, was

associated with peace and happiness.

The southeastern Native Americans' universe was one in which opposites were

constantly at war with each other, red against black, blue against white. This World hovered

somewhere between the perfect order and predictability of the Upper World and the total

disorder and instability of the Lower World. The goal was to find some kind of halfway path, or

balance, between those other worlds.

1. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

(

A) One Civilization's View of the Universe

B) The Changing of the Seasons in the Southeast

C) The Painting of Territorial Maps by Southeastern Native Americans

D) The War Between Two Native American Civilizations

2

. In line 3, the phrase "the last" refers to

A) all plants (B) This World

(

(C) the universe

(D) the Upper World

3. The author implies that This World was located

39

PRACTICE TEST 54 – January 1991

(

A) inside the Upper World

C) above the Upper World

(B) inside the Lower World

(D) between the Upper World and Lower World

4

5

6

. According to the passage, southeastern Native Americans compared This World to

(

A) waters (B) the sky (C) an animal

(D) an island

(D) Five

. According to the passage, lines divided This World into how many segments?

A) Two (B) Three (C) Four

(

. According to the passage, southeastern Native Americans associated red with all of the following

EXCEPT

(

A) fire

(B) trouble

(C) blood

(D) success

7. According to the passage, which of the following colors represented the west for southeastern Native

Americans?

(

A) Blue

(B) While

(C) Black

(D) Purple

(D) A cube

8

. The shape of This Word is closest to that of which of the following?

A) A circle (B) A triangle (C) A square

(

40

PRACTICE TEST 55

May 1991

Passage 1

Forces other than damaging winds are also at work inside tornadoes. Sometimes, as the

writhing, twisting funnel passes over a house, the walls and ceiling burst apart as if a bomb had

gone off inside. This explosion is caused by the low air pressure at the center of a tornado.

The pressure at the center of a tornado is usually 13 pounds per square inch. However,

inside the house the air pressure is normal, about 15 pounds per square inch. The difference of

2

pounds per square inch between the inside and outside pressure may not seem like much.

But suppose a tornado funnel passes over a small building that measures 20 by 10 by 10 feet.

On each square inch of the building, there is 2 pounds of pressure from the inside that is not

balanced by air pressure outside the building. On the ceiling, that adds up to an unbalanced

pressure of 57, 600 pounds. The pressure on the four walls adds up to 172,800 pounds.

If windows are open in the building, some of the inside air will rush out through them. This

will balance the pressure inside and outside the building. But if the windows are shut tightly, the

enormous inside pressure may cause the building to burst.

Unfortunately, heavy rain and hail often occur in thunderstorms that later produce

tornadoes. So people frequently shut all windows to protect their property. This may cause far

worse damage later. For the same reason, tornado cellars must have an air vent. Otherwise,

the cellar door might be blown out when a tornado passes over it.

1. Which of the following is the main topic of the passage?

(

A) How tornadoes can be prevented

C) Where tornadoes are formed

(B) When tornadoes usually occur

(D) Why tornadoes cause so much damage

2

. In line 2, the word "funnel" refers to which of the following?

A) A bomb (B) A house (C) A tornado

(

(D) An explosion

3. According to the passage, tornadoes can destroy buildings because the

(

A) force of a tornado increases the air pressure in a building

B) air pressure at the center of a tornado is over 172,000 pounds

C) weight of a tornado can crush a building's roof when it passes overhead

D) air pressure inside a tornado is less than the air pressure inside a building

4

5

6

7

. According to the passage, what is the difference per square inch between the air pressure inside a

building and the air pressure inside a tornado?

(

A) 2 pounds (D) 15 pounds

(B) 10 pounds

(C) 13 pounds

. According to the passage, the pressure on a building during a tornado can be relieved by

(

A) closing the cellar

(B) opening the windows

C) using a fan for ventilation

(D) strengthening the roof and walls

. According to the passage, people close their windows to prevent damage caused by

(

A) tornadoes

(B) thunderstorms

C) uprooted trees

(D) bursting structures

. In line 17, the word "it" refers to

A) wind (B) hail

(

(C) cellar door

(D) air vent

Passage 2

41

PRACTICE TEST 55 – May 1991

Grandma Moses is among the most celebrated twentieth - century painters of the United

States, yet she had barely started painting before she was in her late seventies. As she once

said of herself: "I would never sit back in a rocking chair, waiting for someone to help me.' No

one could have had a more productive old age.

She was born Anna Mary Robertson on a farm in New York State, one of five boys and

five girls. ("we came in bunches, like radishes.") At twelve she left home and was in domestic

service until at twenty-seven, she married Thomas Moses, the hired hand of one of her

employers. They farmed most of their lives, first in Virginia and then in New York State, at Eagle

Bridge. She had ten children, of whom five survived: her husband died in 1927.

Grandma Moses painted a little as a child and made embroidery pictures as a hobby, but

only switched to oils in old age because her hands had become too stiff to sew and she wanted

to keep busy and pass the time. Her pictures were first sold at the local drugstore and at a fair,

and were soon spotted by a dealer who bought everything she painted. Three of the pictures

were exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art, and in 1940 she had her first exhibition in New

York. Between the 1930s and her death she produced some 2,000 pictures: detailed and lively

portrayals of the rural life she had known for so long, with a marvelous sense of color and form.

“

I think real hard till think of something real pretty, and then I paint it,” she said.

1

2

. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage.

(

A) Grandma Moses: A Biographical Sketch

B) The Children of Grandma Moses

C) Grandma Moses: Her Best Exhibition

D) Grandma Moses and Other Older Artists

. According to the passage, Grandma Moses began to paint because she wanted to

(

A) decorate her home

C) improve her salary

(B) keep active

(D) gain an international reputation

3

4

5

. From Grandma Moses' description of herself in the first paragraph, it can be inferred that she was

(

A) independent

(B) pretty

(C) wealthy

(D) timid

. Grandma Moses spent most of her life

A) nursing (B) painting

(

(C) embroidering

(C) noticed

(D) farming

(D) damaged

. In line 13, the word "spotted" could best be replaced by

A) speckled (B) featured

(

Passage 3

There were two widely divergent influences on the early development of statistical

methods. Statistics had a mother who was dedicated to keeping orderly records of

governmental units (state and statistics come from the same Latin root. status) and a

gentlemanly gambling father who relied on mathematics to increase his skill at playing the odds

in games of chance. The influence of the mother on the offspring, statistics, is represented by

counting, measuring, describing, tabulating, ordering, and the taking of censuses-all of which

led to modern descriptive statistics. From the influence of the father came modern inferential

statistics, which is based squarely on theories of probability.

Descriptive statistics involves tabulating, depicting, and describing collections of data.

These data may be either quantitative, such as measures of height, intelligence, or grade level-

159 variables that are characterized by an underlying continuum-or the data may represent

42

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

qualitative variables, such as sex, college major, or personality type. Large masses of data must

generally undergo a process of summarization or reduction before they are comprehensible.

Descriptive statistics is a tool for describing or summarizing or reducing to comprehensible form

the properties of an otherwise unwieldy mass of data.

Inferential statistics is a formalized body of methods for solving another class of problems

that present great difficulties for the unaided human mind. This general class of problems

characteristically involves attempts to make predictions using a sample of observations. For

example a school superintendent wishes to determine the proportion of children in a large

school system who come to scho6l without breakfast have been vaccinated for flu. or whatever.

Having a little knowledge of statistics, the superintendent would know that it is unnecessary and

inefficient to question each child; the proportion for the entire district could be estimated fairly

accurately from a sample of as few as 100 children. Thus, the purpose of inferential statistics is

to predict or estimate characteristics of a population from a knowledge of the characteristics of

only a sample of the population.

1. With what is the passage mainly concerned?

(

A) The drawbacks of descriptive and inferential statistics

B) Applications of inferential statistics

C) The development and use of statistics

D) How to use descriptive statistics

2. According to the first paragraph, counting and describing are associated with

(

A) inferential statistics

C) unknown variables

(B) descriptive statistics

(D) quantitative changes

3. Why does the author mention the "mother" and "father" in the first paragraph?

(

A) To point out that parents can teach their children statistics

B) To introduce inferential statistics

C) To explain that there are different kinds of variables

D) To present the background of statistics in a humorous and understandable way

4

. The word "squarely" in line 8 could best be replaced by which of the following?

A) solidly (B) geometrically (C) rectangularly

(

(D) haphazardly

5. Which of the following is NOT given as an example of a qualitative variable?

(

A) Gender

(B) Height

C) College major

(D) Type personality

6. Which of the following statements about descriptive statistics is best supported by the passage?

(

A) It simplifies unwieldy masses of data.

B) It leads to increased variability

C) It solves all numerical problems.

D) It changes qualitative variables to quantitative variables.

7. According to the passage, what is the purpose of examining a sample of a population.?

(

A) To compare different groups

B) To predict characteristics of the entire population

C) To consider all the quantitative variables

D) To tabulate collections of data

Passage 4

43

PRACTICE TEST 55 – May 1991

The beaver is North America‟s largest rodent. As such, it is a close relative of two

creatures that are not held in particularly high regard by most connoisseurs of wildlife, the

porcupine and the rat. Even so, the beaver has several qualities that endear it to people: ii is

monogamous and lives in a family unit; it is gentle and clean; it is absolutely industrious.

The beaver's legendary capacity for hard work has produced some astonishing results. In

British Columbia, for example, one ambitious creature felled a cottonwood tree that was 11.1

feet tall and more than five feet thick. In New Hampshire, beavers constructed a darn that was

three fourths of a mile long and the body of water it created contained no fewer than 40 lodges

In Colorado, beavers were responsible for the appearance of a canal that was a yard deep and

ran for 7511 feet. Each adult beaver in Massachusetts, according to one researcher‟s

calculations, cuts down more than a ton of wood every year.

Beavers appear to lead exemplary lives. But the beaver's penchant for building dams,

lodges, and canals has got it into a lot of hot water lately. People who fish in the Midwest and

New England are complaining about beaver dams that spoil streams for trout and. in the

Southeast, loggers object whenever the animals flood out valuable stands of commercial timber.

But some beaver experts champion a more charitable view. Historically, they say, this creature's

impact on the environment has been tremendously significant, and its potential as a practical

conservation resource is receiving more and more attention.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(

A) Characteristics and habits of the beaver

B) Forest animals as conservation resources

C) Rodents of North America

D) The beavers role in building canals

2

3

4

5

. In the first paragraph, the author implies that the porcupine and the rat are

(

A) gentle and clean

(B) not found in North America

C) disliked by connoisseurs of wildlife

(D) monogamous and live in a family unit .

. According to the passage. a beaver in British Columbia was responsible for

(

A) cutting down a ton of wood

(B) constructing a 750- foot canal

C) building a dam almost a mile long

(D) felling a 110- foot cottonwood tree

. In line 9, to what does the word "it" refer?

(

A) A dam

(B) New Hampshire

(D) Colorado

C) A cottonwood tree

. According to the passage, beavers have been the subject of complaints because they

(

A) contribute to soil erosion by cutting down so many trees

B) build dams that ruin popular fishing areas

C) attack people who trespass on beaver territory

D) destroy log cabins by gnawing on the wood

6. The paragraph following the passage most probably discusses

(

A) examples of destructive forest-dwelling rodents

B) favorite trout streams in New England

C) reasons for the beaver's popularity among loggers

D) ways in which the beaver acts as a conservation resource

Passage 5

44

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

To produce the upheaval in the United States that changed and modernized the domain

of higher education from the mid 1860's to the mid-1880's, three primary causes interacted The

emergence of a half dozen leaders in education provided the personal force that was needed.

Moreover, an outcry for a fresher, more practical, and more advanced kind of instruction arose

among the alumni and friends of nearly all of the old colleges and grew into a movement that

overrode all conservative opposition. The aggressive Young Yale movement appeared,

demanding partial alumni control, a more liberal spirit, and a broader course of study. The

graduates of Harvard College simultaneously rallied to relieve the college‟s poverty and demand

new enterprise. Education was pushing toward higher standards in the East by throwing off

church leadership everywhere, and in the West by finding a wider range of studies and a new

sense of public duty.

The old-style classical education received its most crushing blow in the citadel of Harvard

College, where Dr. Charles Eliot, a young captain of thirty - five, son of a former treasurer of

Harvard, led the progressive forces. Five revolutionary advances were made during the first

years of Dr. Eliot's administration. They were the elevation and amplification of entrance

requirements, the enlargement of the curriculum and the development of the elective system,

the recognition of graduate study in the liberal arts, the raising of professional training in law,

medicine, and engineering to a postgraduate level, and the fostering of greater maturity in

student life. Standards of admission were sharply advanced in 1872-1873 and 1876-1877. By

the appointment of a dean to take charge of student affairs, and a wise handling of discipline,

the undergraduates were led to regard themselves more as young gentlemen and less as

young animals. One new course of study after another was opened up-science, music, the

history of the fine arts, advanced Spanish, political economy, physics, classical philology, and

international law.

1. Which of the following is the author‟s main purpose in the passage?

(

A) To explain the history of Harvard College

B) To criticize the conditions of United States universities in the nineteenth century

C) To describe innovations in United States higher education in the latter 1800's

D) To compare Harvard with Yale before the turn of the century

2. According to the passage, the changes in higher education during the latter 1800' s were the result of

(

A) plans developed by conservatives and church leaders.

B) efforts of interested individuals to redefine the educational system

C) the demands of social organizations seeking financial relief

D) rallies held by westerners wanting to compete with eastern schools

3

. According to the passage, Harvard College was in need of more

A) students (B) money (C) land

(

(D) clergy

4. According to the passage, which of the following can be inferred about Harvard College before

progressive changes occurred?

(

A) Admission standards were lower.

C) Classes ended earlier.

(B) Students were younger.

(D) Courses were more practical.

5. From the passage it can be concluded that which of the following was a characteristic of the classical

course of study?

(

A) Most students majored in education

B) Students were limited in their choice of courses

C) Students had to pass five levels of study

D) Courses were so difficult that most students failed

45

PRACTICE TEST 56

August 1991

Passage 1

British Columbia is the third largest Canadian province both in area and population. It is

nearly three times as large as Texas, and extends 800 miles (1,280 km) north from the United

States border. It includes Canada's entire west coast and the islands just off the coast.

Most of British Columbia is mountainous, with long, rugged ranges running north and

south. Even the coastal islands are the remains of a mountain range that existed thousands of

years ago. During the last Ice Age this range was scoured by glaciers until most of It was

beneath the sea. its peaks now show as islands scattered along the coast.

The southwestern coastal region has a humid mild marine climate. Sea winds that blow

inland from the west are warmed by a current of warm water that flows through the Pacific

Ocean. As a result winter temperatures average above freezing and summers are mild. These

warm western winds also carry moisture from the ocean. Inland from the coast, the winds from

the Pacific meet the mountain barriers of the coastal ranges and the Rocky Mountains. As they

rise to cross the mountains, the winds are cooled, and their moisture begins to fall as rain. On

some of the western slopes almost 201 inches (500 cm) of rain fall each year.

More than half of British Columbia is heavily forested. On mountain slopes that receive

plentiful rainfall, huge Douglas firs rise in towering columns. These forest giants often grow to

be as much as 300 feet (90 m) tail, with diameters up to 10 feet (3 m). More lumber is produced

from these trees than from any other kind of tree in North America. Hemlock, red cedar, and

balsam fir are among the other trees found in British Columbia.

1. In which part of British Columbia can a mild tree found in British Columbia?

(

A) In the southwest

C) In the north

(B) Inland from the coast

(D) On the entire west coast

2

3

4

. In line 16, the word "heavily" could best be replaced by which of the following?

(

A) weightily (B) densely (C) sluggishly

(D) seriously

. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a climate be found?

A) Hemlock (B) Cedar (C) Fir

(

(D) Pine

. Where in the passage does the author mention the effect the mountains have on winds?

(

A) Lines 4 – 5

(B) Lines 8 – 10

(D) Lines 16 – 17

C) Lines 13– 14

Passage 2

46

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

Though they were not trained naturalists, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in their

explorations of North America in the early nineteenth century came across enough unfamiliar

birds, mammals, and reptiles to fill a zoo. In keeping with President Jefferson's orders they took

careful note of 122 species and subspecies that were unknown to science and in many cases

native only to the West. Clark made sketches of any particularly intriguing creature. He and

Lewis also collected animal hides and horns and bird skins with such care that a few of them

were still intact nearly two centuries later. While Lewis and Clark failed to meet the mythological

monsters reputed to dwelt in the West, they did unearth the bones of a 45 - foot dinosaur.

Furthermore, some of the living beasts they did come upon, such as the woolly mountain goat

and the grizzly bear, were every bit as odd or as fearsome as any myth. In their collector's

enthusiasm, they even floated a prairie dog out of its burrow by pouring in five barrelfuls of

water, then shipped the frisky animal to Jefferson alive and yelping.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(

A) President Jefferson's pets

B) Collector's techniques for capturing wildlife

C) Discovery of animal species by Lewis and Clark

D) Jobs for trained naturalists

2

. "In keeping with" in line 3 could best be replaced by which of the following?

A) Following (B) Managing (C) Retaining

(

(D) Delaying

3. It can be inferred from the passage that President Jefferson ordered Lewis and Clark to

(

A) bring back animals for a zoo

C) compile sketches for a book

(B) train to be naturalists

(D) record newly discovered species of animals

4. In line 8, what does the word "they" refer to?

(

A) Lewis and Clark

(B) Dinosaur bones

(D) Western dwellers

C) Mythological monsters

5

. The author compares which of the following animals to mythological monsters?

A) The grizzly bear (B) The prairie dog (C) A tropical bird

(

(D) A poisonous reptile

6. According to the passage, Lewis and Clark poured water into a prairie dog's burrow because they wanted

to

(

A) bathe the animal

(B) capture the animal

C) give the animal water

(D) teach the animal to float

Passage 3

What makes it rain? Rain falls from clouds for the same reason anything falls to Earth.

The Earth's gravity pulls it. But every cloud is made of water droplets or ice crystals. Why

doesn't rain or snow fall constantly from all clouds? The droplets or ice crystals in clouds are

exceedingly small. The effect of gravity on them is minute. Air currents move and lift droplets so

that the net downward displacement is zero, even though the droplets are in constant motion.

Droplets and ice crystals behave somewhat like dust in the air made visible in a shaft of

sunlight. To the casual observer, dust seems to act in a totally random fashion, moving about

chaotically without fixed direction. But in fact dust particles are much larger than water droplets

and they finally fall. The cloud droplet of average size is only 1/2500 inch in diameter. It is so

small that it would take sixteen hours to fall half a mile in perfectly still air, and it does not fall out

of moving air at alt. Only when the droplet grows to a diameter of 1/125 inch or larger can it fall

from the cloud. The average raindrop contains a million times as much water as a tiny cloud

47

PRACTICE TEST 56 – August 1991

droplet. The growth of a cloud droplet to a size large enough to fall out is the cause of rain and

other forms of precipitation. This important growth process is called "coalescence."

1. What is the main topic of the passage?

(

A) The mechanics of rain

(B) The climate of North America

(D) Types of clouds

C) How gravity affects agriculture

2

. The word "minute" in line 4 is closest in meaning to which of the following?

A) Second (B) Tiny (C) Slow

(

(D) Predictable

3. Why don' t all ice crystals in clouds immediately fall to earth?

(

A) They are balanced by the pressure of rain droplets.

B) The effect of gravity at high altitude is random.

C) They are kept aloft by air currents.

D) The heat from the sun' S rays melts them.

4

. The word 'motion" in line 6 is closest in meaning to which of the following?

A) Wind (B) Descent (C) Movement

(

(D) Humidity

5. What can be inferred about drops of water larger than 1/125 inch in diameter?

(

A) They never occur.

B) They are not affected by the force of gravity.

C) In still air they would fall to earth.

D) In moving air they fall at a speed of thirty-two miles per hour.

6. In this passage, what does the term "coalescence" refer to?

(

A) The gathering of small clouds to form larger clouds

B) The growth of droplets

C) The fall of raindrops and other precipitation

D) The movement of dust particles in the sunlight

7. What is the diameter of the average cloud droplet?

(

A) 1/16 inch

(B) 1/125 inch

C) 1/2500 inch

(D) One million of an inch

Passage 4

In general, the influence of Anglo patrons has been much less pronounced on Hispanic

arts than on American Indian arts. The Hispanic crafts revival was confined to a much shorter

period of time, beginning in the early 1920's, reaching its peak in the late 1930's, and dying

down by the Second World War, less than 20 years. During this period, in spite of the

enthusiasm of the wealthy Anglo patrons in northern New Mexico, Hispanic crafts never "caught

on" nationally in the way American Indian crafts did. Interest was fairly well limited to the

Southwest and Southern California, the areas in which the adobe hacienda revival was taking

place. The major interest in Hispanic crafts was as furnishings for these comfortable

Southwestern-style adobe homes. These crafts were not, as were American Indian crafts

viewed as valuable art objects in themselves purchased with an eye for speculation. Hispanic

arts to, a great degree have been ignored by the speculative Anglo art market. A beneficial

consequence of this oversight is that the artisans have been freer to work according to their own

standards and within their own traditions. Their work has not been "emptied of previous vital

meanings" and become a meaningless revival. as has so much ethnic art of this day. Rather it

has remained as an object of cultural pride and identity and not simply the product of the tastes

and demands of the art market.

48

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

1. What does this passage mainly discuss?

(

A) Differences in the degree to which His-panic and American Indian arts have been influenced by

Anglo patrons

(

B) Marketing strategies for Hispanic artists

C) American Indian influence on Hispanic crafts

D) Negative consequences of the influence American Indian and Hispanic arts have had on Anglo

artists

2

3

4

5

. According to the passage, during which of the following periods were Hispanic crafts most popular?

(

A) The early 1920's

(B) The late 1930's

C) In the middle of the Second World War

(D) At the end of the Second World War

. In line 6, the author says that Hispanic crafts never "caught on" to indicate that they

(

A) failed to become fashionable

C) were impossible to understand.

(B) were hard to hang on walls

(D) seldom stayed glued together

. In line 15 of the passage, to which of the following does the word "it" refer?

(

A) The clay

(B) Ethnic art

C) Their work

(D) A meaningless revival

. Which of the following places is NOT mentioned in the passage as a place in which Hispanic crafts were

popular?

(

A) Northern New Mexico

C) Southern California

(B) The Southwest

(D) New England

6. Where in the passage does the author indicate the primary use of the Hispanic crafts purchased prior to

the Second World War II

(

A) Lines 2-4

(B) Lines 8-9

C) Lines 11-13

(D) Lines 15-16

Passage 5

Botany, the study of plants, occupies a peculiar position in the history of human

knowledge. For many thousands of years it was the one field of awareness about which

humans had anything more than the vaguest of insights. It is impossible to know today just what

our Stone Age ancestors knew about plants, but from what we can observe of pre-industrial

societies that still exist, a detailed learning of plants and their properties must be extremely

ancient. This is logical. Plants are the basis of the food pyramid for all living things, even for

other plants. They have always been enormously important to the welfare of peoples, not only

for food, but also for clothing, weapons, tools, dyes: medicines, shelter, and a great many other

purposes. Tribes living today in the jungles of the Amazon recognize literally hundreds of plants

and know many properties of each. To them botany, as such, has no name and is probably not

even recognized as a special branch of "Knowledge at all.

Unfortunately, the more industrialized we become the farther away we move from direct

contact with plants, and the less distinct our knowledge of botany grows. Yet everyone comes

unconsciously on an amazing amount of botanical knowledge, and few people will fail to

recognize a rose, an apple, or an orchid. When our Neolithic ancestors, living in the Middle East

about 10,000 years ago, discovered that certain grasses could be harvested and their seeds

planted for richer yields the next season, the first great step in a new association of plants and

humans was taken. Grains were discovered and from them flowed the marvel of agriculture:

cultivated crops. From then on, humans would increasingly take their living from the controlled

production of a few plants, rather than getting a little here and a little there from many varieties

49

PRACTICE TEST 56 – August 1991

that grew wild – and the accumulated knowledge' of tens of thousands of years of experience

and intimacy with plants in the wild would begin to fade away.

1. Which of the following assumptions about early humans is expressed in the passage?

(

A) They probably had extensive knowledge of plants.

B) They thought there was no need to cultivate crops.

C) They did not enjoy the study of botany.

D) They placed great importance on the ownership of property.

2. What does the comment "This is logical" in line 6 mean?

(

A) There is no clear way to determine the extent of our ancestor‟s knowledge of plants.

B) It is not surprising that early humans had a detailed knowledge of plants.

C) It is reasonable to assume that our ancestors behaved very much like people in preindustrial

societies.

(

D) Human knowledge of plants is well organized and very detailed.

3

4

5

. According to the passage, why has general knowledge of botany begun to fade?

(

A) People no longer value plants as a useful resource.

B) Botany is not recognized as a special branch of science.

C) Research is unable to keep up with the increasing numbers of plants.

D) Direct contact with a variety of plants has decreased.

. In line 16, what is the author‟s purpose in mentioning "a rose, an apple, or an orchid"?

(

A) To make the passage more poetic

B) To cite examples of plants that are attractive

C) To give botanical examples that all readers will recognize

D) To illustrate the diversity of botanical life

. According to the passage, what was the first great step toward the practice of agriculture?

(

A) The invention of agricultural implements and machinery

B) The development of a system of names for plants

C) The discovery of grasses that could be harvested and replanted

D) The changing diets of early humans

6. The relationship between botany and agriculture is similar to the relationship between zoology (the study

of animals) and

(

A) deer hunting

C) sheep raising

(B) bird watching

(D) horseback riding

7. In which lines in the passage does the author describe the beneficial properties that plants have for

humans?

(

A) Lines 1-2

(B) Lines 7-9

C) Lines 11-12

(D) Lines 14-16

50

PRACTICE TEST 57

October 1991

Passage 1

Having no language, infants cannot be told what they need to learn. Yet by the age of

three they will have mastered the basic structure of their native language and will be well on

their way to communicative competence. Acquiring their language is a most impressive

intellectual feat. Students of how children learn language generally agree that the most

remarkable aspect of this feat is the rapid acquisition of grammar. Nevertheless, the ability of

children to conform to grammatical rules is only slightly more wonderful than their ability to learn

words. It has been reckoned that the average high school graduate in the United States has a

reading vocabulary of 80. 000 words, which includes idiomatic expressions and proper names

of people and places. This vocabulary must have been learned over a period of 16 years. From

the figures, it can be calculated that the average child learns at a rate of about 13 new words

per day. Clearly a learning process of great complexity goes on at a rapid rate in children.

1. What is the main subject of the passage.

(

A) Language acquisition in children

C) How to memorize words

(B) Teaching languages to children

(D) Communicating with infants

2

3

4

. The word "feat" in line 5 is closest in meaning to which of the following?

(

A) Experiment (B) Idea (C) Activity

(D) Accomplishment

(D) Said

. The word "reckoned' in line 7 is closest in meaning to which of the following?

(

A) Suspected

(B) Estimated

(C) Proved

. In line 8, the word "which" refers to

(

A) their ability

(B) reading vocabulary

(D) learning process

C) idiomatic expression

5. According to the passage, what is impressive about the way children learn vocabulary.

(

A) They learn words before they learn grammar

B) They learn even very long words.

C) They learn words very quickly.

D) They learn the most words in high school.

Passage 2

The temperature of the Sun is over 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit at the surface. but it rises

to perhaps more than 16 million degrees at the center. The Sun is so much hotter than the

Earth that matter can exist only as a gas, except at the core. In the core of the Sun, the

pressures are so great against the gases that, despite the high temperature. there may be a

small solid

core. However, no one really knows, since the center of the Sun can never be directly observed.

Solar astronomers do know that the Sun is divided into five layers or zones. Starting at

the outside and going down into the Sun, the zones are the corona, chromosphere,

photosphere, convection zone, and finally the core. The first three zones are the regarded as

the Sun's atmosphere. But since the Sun has no solid surface, it is hard to tell where the

atmosphere ends and the main body of the Sun begins.

The Sun's outermost layer begins about 10,000 miles above the visible surface and can

be seen during an eclipse such as the one in February 1979. At any goes outward for millions of

51

PRACTICE TEST 57 – October 1991

miles. This is the only part of the Sun that other time, the corona can be seen only when special

instruments are used on cameras and telescopes to shut out the glare of the Sun's rays.

The corona is a brilliant, pearly white, filmy light about as bright as the full Moon. Its

beautiful rays are a sensational sight during an eclipse. The corona's rays flash out in a brilliant

fan that has wispy spike-like rays near the Sun‟s north and south poles. The corona is thickest

at the sun's equator.

The corona rays are made up of gases streaming outward at tremendous speeds and

reaching a temperature of more than 2 million degrees Fahrenheit. The rays of gas thin out as

they reach the space around the planets. By the time the Sun's corona rays reach the Earth,

they are weak and invisible.

1. Matter on the Sun can exist only in the form of gas because of the Sun' S

(

A) size

(B) age

(C) location

(D) temperature

2. With what topic is the second paragraph mainly concerned?

(

A) How the Sun evolved

(B) The structure of the Sun

(D) The distance of the Sun from the planets

C) Why scientists study the Sun

3

4

5

. All of the following are parts of the Sun's atmosphere EXCEPT the

(

A) corona (B) chromosphere (C) photosphere

(D) core

. According to the passage as the corona rays reach the planets, they become

A) hotter (B) clearer (C) thinner

(

(D) stronger

. The paragraphs following the passage most likely discuss which of the following?

(

A) The remaining layers of the Sun

C) The eclipse of February 1979

(B) The evolution of the Sun to its present form

(D) The scientists who study astronomy

6. Where in the passage does the author compare the light of the Sun‟s outermost layer to that of another

astronomical body?

(

A) Lines 2-3

C) Line 16

(B) Lines 9-10

(D) Lines 22-23

Passage 3

The agricultural revolution in the nineteenth century involved two things: the invention of

labor-saving machinery and. the development of scientific agriculture. Labor - saying machinery,

naturally appeared, first where labor was 8carce. "In Europe," said, Thomas Jefferson, the

object is to make the most of: their land, labor being abundant;. here it, is to make the most of

our labor, land being abundant. It was in America, therefore, that the great advances in

nineteenth - century agricultural machinery first came.

At the opening of the century, with the exception of a crude plow farmers could have

carried practically all of the existing agricultural implement on their backs; by 1860, most of the

machinery in use today had been designed in an early form. The most important of the early

inventions was the iron plow. As early as 1790 Charies Newbold of New Jersey had been

working on the of a cast – iron plow and spent his entire fortune in introducing his invention.

The farmers, however, would have none of it, claiming that the iron poisoned the soil and made

the weeds grow. Nevertheless, many people devoted their attention to the plow, until in 1869

James Oliver of South Bend, Indiana, turned out the first chilled-steel plow.

52

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

1. What is the main topic of the passage?

(

A) The need for agricultural advances to help feed a growing population

B) The development of safer machines demanded by the labor movement

C) Machinery that contributed to the agricultural revolution

D) New Jersey as a leader in the agricultural revolution

2

. The word "naturally" as used in line 3 is closest in meaning to which of the following?

A) Gradually (B) Unsurprisingly (C) Apparently (D) Safely

(

3. The expression "make the most of" in line 4 is closest in meaning to which of the following?

(

A) Get the best yield from

C) Exaggerate the worth of

(B) Raise the price of

(D) Earn a living on

4. Which of the following can be inferred from what Thomas Jefferson said?

(

A) Europe was changing more quickly than America.

B) Europe had greater need of farm machinery than America did.

C) America was finally running out of good farmland.

D) There was a shortage of workers on American farms.

5

. It can be inferred that the word "here' in line 4 refers to

A) Europe (B) America

(

(C) New Jersey

(D) Indiana

6. What point is the author making by stating that farmers could carry nearly all their tools On their backs?

(

A) Farmers had few tools before the agricultural revolution.

B) Americans were traditionally self - reliant.

C) Life on the farm was extremely difficult.

D) New tools were designed to be portable.

7. Why did farmers reject Newbold's plow?

(

A) Their horses were frightened by it.

C) It was too expensive.

(B) They preferred lighter tools.

(D) They thought it would ruin the land.

Passage 4

Telecommuting – substituting the computer for the trip to the job – has been hailed as a

solution to all kinds of problems related to office work. For workers it promises freedom from the

office, less time wasted in traffic, and help with child - care conflicts. For management,

telecommuting helps keep high performers on board, minimizes tardiness and absenteeism by

eliminating commutes, allows periods of solitude for high –concentration task, and provides

scheduling flexibility. In some areas, such as Southern California and Seattle, Washington,

local governments are encouraging companies to start telecommuting programs in order to

reduce rush - hour congestion and improve air quality. But these benefits do not come easily.

Making a telecommuting program work requires careful planning and an understanding of the

differences between telecommuting realities and popular images.

Many workers are seduced by rosy illusions of life as a telecommuter. A computer

programmer from New York City moves to the tranquil Adirondack Mountains and stays in

contact with her office via computer. A manager comes in to his Office three days 8 week and

works at home the other two. An accountant stays home to care for child; she hooks up her

telephone modem connections and does office work between calls to the doctor.

These are powerful images, but they are a limited reflection of reality. Telecommuting

workers soon learn that it is almost impossible to concentrate on work and care for a young

53

PRACTICE TEST 57 – October 1991

child at the same time. Before a certain age, young children cannot recognize. much less

respect, the necessary boundaries between work and family. Additional child support is

necessary if the parent is to get any work done.

Management, too, must separate the myth from the reality. Although the media has paid

a great deal of attention to telecommuting. in most cases it is the employee's situation, not the

availability of technology, that precipitates a telecommuting arrangement.

That is partly why, despite the widespread press coverage, the number of companies with

work-at-home programs or policy guidelines remains small.

1. What is the main subject of the passage.

(

A) Business management policies

B) Driving to work

C) Extending the workplace by means of commuters

D) Commuters for child - care purposes

2. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a problem for office employees9.

(

A) Being restricted to the office

C) Taking care of sick children

(B) Incurring expenses for lunches and clothing

(D) Driving in heavy traffic

3. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a problem for employers that is potentially solved by

telecommuting?

(

A) Employees' lateness for work

B) Employees' absence from work

C) Employees' need for time alone to work intensively

D) Employee's' conflicts with second jobs

4. Which of the following does the author mention as a possible disadvantage of telecommuting?

(

A) Small children cannot understand the boundaries of work and play.

B) Computer technology is not advanced enough to accommodate the needs of every situation.

C) Electrical malfunctions can destroy a project.

D) The worker often does not have all the needed resources at home.

5. Which of the following is an example of telecommuting as described in the passage?

(

A) A scientist in a laboratory developing plans for a space station

B) A technical writer sending via computer documents created at home

C) A computer technician repairing an office computer network

D) A teacher directing computer-assisted learning in a private school

Passage 5

Camen Lomas Garza's eloquent etchings, lithographs, and gouache paintings depict

primal images of the rural environment and communal cultural experience of Mexican

descended people in the United States. In an introspective and personal language, she

describes the customs, traditions, and way of life of her Texan - Mexican heritage.

By 1972, Lomas Garza had evolved her distinctive monitos, paintings of stylized figures in

culturally specific social environments. She transposes images and scenes from her past,

combining cultural documentation with invention in an interplay of fact and fiction. Through

selection. emphasis, and creation, these monitos delineate facets of experience, expressing

deeper truths.

54

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

Oral tradition is a mainstay of Chicano culture. In both urban and rural communities, a rich

and varied repertoire of ballads, tales, and poetic forms is preserved in memory-and passed

from generation to generation. Lomas Garza's monitos function as an oral tradition in visual

form. Her unique art of storytelling employs iconographic elements to create a concentrated

narration. Visual episodes within an unfolding epic tale of cultural regeneration, the monitos

keep alive the customs and daily practices that give meaning and coherence to Chicano

identity. Their basic aim is to delight and instruct. For those outside Chicano culture, the precise

and minutely detailed monitos provide a glimpse into the rich and vibrant lifestyle of the largest

Spanish speaking cultural group within United States society.

Although her art has an innocent earnestness and folkloric affinity. Lomas Garza's

expression is neither naive nor instinctive. The artist is highly trained academically, but has

chosen to remain independent of dominant artistic trends in order to work toward a private

aesthetic response to social concerns. While her work does not posit an overt political

statement. it originates from a desire to respond to the contemporary situation of Mexican

Americans by expressing positive images of their culture.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(

A) Cultural aspects of Carmen Lomas Garza's work

B) Carmen Lomas Garza's artistic training

C) Political aspects of Carmen Lomas Garza's work

D) Critical reviews of Carmen Lomas Garza's work

2. What does the passage say about the oral tradition in Chicano culture?

(

A) It is very important.

(B) It is no longer relevant.

(D) It is primarily rural.

C) It is being replaced by the written word.

3. The writer compares Lomas Garza's visual works to

(

A) customs

(B) facts and fiction

(D) artistic trends

C) storytelling

4

5

6

. The author refers to Carmen Lomas Garza's work as all of the following EXCEPT

(

A) instructive (B) precise (C) detailed

(D) naive

. The word "Their" in line 16 refers to which of the following?

A) Elements (B) Monitos (C) Customs

(

(D) Practices

. Where' in the passage does the author discuss the effect of Garza's work on non-Chicanos?

(

A) Lines 1-3

(B) Lines 10-12

(D) Lines 21-23

C) Lines 16-19

7. What can be inferred from the passage about Carmen Lomas Garza's art training?

(

A) She pursued conventional academic art studies.

B) She was self-taught.

C) She learned by copying dominant artistic trends.

D) She learned by copying folk artists.

55

PRACTICE TEST 58

January 1990

Passage 1

The railroad industry could not have grown as large as it did without steel. The first rails

were made of iron. But iron rails were not strong enough to support heavy trains running at high

speeds. Railroad executives wanted to replace them with steel rails because steel was ten or

fifteen times stronger and lasted twenty times longer. Before the 1870's, however, steel was too

expensive to be widely used. It was made by a slow and expensive process of heating. Stirring,

and reheating iron ore.

Then the inventor Henry Bessemer discovered that directing a blast of air at melted iron

in a furnace would burn out the impurities that made the iron brittle. As the air shot, through the

furnace, the bubbling metal would erupt in showers of sparks. When the fire cooled, the metal

had been changed, or converted, to steel. The Bessemer converter made possible the mass

production of steel. Now three to five tons of iron could be changed into steel in a matter of

minutes.

Just when the demand for more and more steel developed, prospectors discovered huge

new deposits of iron ore in the Mesabi Range, a 120-mile-long region in Minnesota near Lake

Superior. The Mesabi deposits were so near the surface that they could be mined with steam'

shovels.

Barges and steamers carried the iron ore through Lake Superior to depots or: the

southern shores of Lake Michigan and Lake Erie. With dizzying speed Gary, Indiana, and

Toledo, Youngstown, and Cleveland, Chic, became major steel-manufacturing centers

Pittsburgh was the greatest steel city of all.

Steel was the basic building material of the industrial age. Production skyrocketed from

seventy-seven thousand tons in 1870 to over eleven million tons in 1900.

1

2

3

. Which of the following is the best title for the passage

(

A) The Railroad industry

(B) Famous Inventors

C) Changing Iron into Steel

(D) Steel Manufacturing Centers

. According to the passage, the railroad industry try preferred steel to iron because steel was

(

A) cheaper and more plentiful

C) cleaner. And easier to mine

(B) lighter, and easier to mold

(D) stronger and more durable

. According to the passage, how did the Bessemer method make the mass production of steel possible?

(

A) It directed air at melted iron in a furnace. removing all impurities.

B) It slowly heated iron ore.. then stirred it and heated it again.

C) It changed iron ore into iron, which was a substitute for steel.

D) It could quickly find deposits of iron ore under the ground.

4

. The furnace that Bessemer used to process iron into steel was called a

A) heater (B) steamer (C) converter

(

(D) shower

5. According to the passage. where were large deposits of iron one uncovered?

(

A) In Pittsburgh

(B) In the Mesabi Range

(D) Near Lake Erie

C) Near Lake Michigan

6. In line 17 the words 'Barges and steamers could best be replaced by which of the following?

(

A) Trains (B) Planes (C) Boats (D) Trucks

56

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

7. It can be inferred from the passage that the mass production of steel caused

(

A) a decline in the railroad industry

C) an increase in the price of steel

(B) a revolution in the industrial world

(D) a feeling of discontent among steel work

Passage 2

The origins of the horse go back to eohippus the "dawn horse" of me Eocene only 10 to

20 inches tall. Like its relatives the ancient tapir and rhinoceros, eohippus had four toes on its

front feet, three on the rear, and teeth adapted to a forest diet of soft leaves. Eohippus died out

about 5.1 million years ago in both North America and Europe.

Late ancestral horse types moved from their forest niche out onto the grassy plains. Their

teeth ac to accommodate to hard siliceous grass. No longer could these protohorses slip away

through thick forest when dancer threatened. Escape now demanded speed and endurance

Limbs crew longer. Extra toes became vestiges that were not visible externally

1

2

3

4

5

. The passage mainly discusses the

(

A) evolution of the horse

C) animals of the Eocene

(B) size of eohippus

(D) plight of endangered species

. The author states that eohippus was related to the

(

A) horsefly

(B) tapeworm

(D) rhinoceros

C) hippopotamus

. What did the eohippus eat?

(

A) Rhinoceros meat

(B) Soft leaves

C) Hard siliceous grass

(D) Other horses

. In what way did predators present less of a threat to eohippus than to later proto horses.

(

A) Eohippus was hidden by the forest.

C) Eohippus was not edible.

(B) Eohippus could run farther.

(D) Eohippus was larger and stronger

. The paragraph following the passage most probably discusses

(

A) other changes that the rhinoceros has undergone

B) more reasons for the extinction of eohippus

C) further development of early horse types.

D) the diet of eohippus.

Passage 3

In terrestrial affairs we think of "big" as being complicated; a city is more intricate than a

village, an ocean more complicated than a puddle. For the universe, the reverse seems to be

the case bigger is simpler Galaxies have some puzzling features, but on the whole, they are

scarcely more complicated than the stars that compose them Beyond the galaxies, in the

hierarchy of the cosmos, there are clusters of galaxies; these clusters are loosely bound by the

gravity of their largest members and tend to look very much the same in all directions. Simplest

of all is the universe at large, it is far less complicated than the Earth, one of its most trivial

members. The universe consists of billions of galaxies flying apart as if from an explosion that

set it in motion, it is not lopsided, nor does it rotate. The more thoroughly scientists investigate

the universe, the more clearly its simplicity shines through.

57

PRACTICE TEST 58 – January 1990

1. What is the main point made in the passage?

(

A) The Earth is more complicated than the solar system

B) The universe is filled with puzzling materials.

C) The universe is a relatively simple phenomenon.

D) Galaxy clusters are an illusion.

2

3

4

. According to the passage, clusters of galaxies are

(

A) indiscernible in the cosmos

B) held together by gravity

C) made up of only one or two galaxies

D) created when stars explode

. According to the passage, which of the following is the most complicated?

(

A) The Earth

(B) A cluster of galaxies

(D) A galaxy

C) The universe

. It can be inferred from the passage that future research will support which of the following statements?

(

A) Scientists in the past have been misled by the apparent simplicity of the universe.

B) The chaos and confusion of the universe will never be understood

C) Findings will confirm the belief that the universe is simple

D) Billions of galaxies are predicted to explode, adding to universal complexity.

Passage 4

Arid regions in the southwestern United States have become increasingly inviting

playgrounds for the growing number of recreation seekers who own vehicles such as

motorcycles or powered trail bikes and indulge in hill-climbing contests or in carving new trails in

the desert. But recent scientific studies show that these off-road vehicles can cause damage to

desert landscapes that has long-range effects on the area‟s water-conserving characteristics

and on the entire ecology, both plant and animal. Research by scientists in the western Mojave

Desert in California revealed that the compaction of the sandy arid soil resulting from the

passage of just one motorcycle markedly reduced the infiltration ability of the soil and created a

stream of rain runoff water that eroded the hillside surface. In addition, the researchers

discovered that the soil compaction caused by the off-road vehicles often killed native plant

species and resulted in the invasion of different plant species within a few years. The native

perennial species required many more years before they showed signs of returning. The

scientists calculated that roughly a century would be required for the infiltration capacity of the

Mojave soil to be restored after being compacted by vehicles.

1. What is the main topic of the passage?

(

A) Problems caused by recreational vehicles

B) Types of off-road vehicles

C) Plants of the southwestern desert

D) The increasing number of recreation seekers

2. According to the passage, what is being damaged?

(

A) Motorcycles

(B) The desert landscape

(D) New plant species

C) Roads through the desert

3

. According to the passage, the damage to plants is

A) unnoticeable (B) superficial

(

(C) long-lasting

(D) irreparable

4

. According to the passage, what happens when the soil is compacted?

A) Little water seeps through (B) Better roads are made

(

58

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

(

C) Water is conserved

(D) Deserts are expanded

5. What is happening to the desert hillsides?

(

A) The topsoil is being eroded

B) The surface is being irrigated

C) There are fewer types of plants growing on them

D) There are fewer streams running through them

6. According to the passage, what is happening to native plants in these areas?

(

A) They are becoming more compact

C) They are invading other areas

(B) They are adapting

(D) They are dying

7. It can be inferred that which of the following people would probably be most alarmed by the scientists'

findings?

(

A) Historians

(B) Mapmakers

(C) Farmer

(D) Ecologists

Passage 5

Certainly one of the most intelligent and best educated women of her day, Mercy Otis

Warren produced a variety of poetry and prose. Her farce The Group ( 1776) was the hit of

revolutionary Boston, a collection of two plays and poems appeared in 1790, and he three-

volume History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution. Interspersed

with Biographical and Moral, Observations appeared in 1805 She wrote other farces, as well as

anti-Federalist pamphlet Observations on the New Constitution, and on the Federal and State

Conventions (1788). There is no modern edition of her works, but there are two twentieth-

century biographies, one facsimile edition of The Group, and a generous discussion of her

farces and plays in Arthur Hubson Quinn's A History of the American Drama From the

Beginning to the Civil War. Of her non-dramatic poetry, critics rarely speak Mercy Otis was born

into a prominent family in Barnstable, Massachusetts. In 1754, she married James Warren, a

Harvard friend of James Otis and John Adams, comes Warren was to become a member of the

Massachusetts legislature just before the war and a financial aide to Washington during the war

with the rank of major general. The friendship of the Warrens and Adamses was lifelong and

close: Abigail Adams was one of Mercy Warren's few close friends. Following the war. James

Warren reentered politics to oppose the Constitution because he feared that it did not

adequately provide for protection of individual rights. Mercy Warren joined her husband in

political battle, out the passage of the Bill of flights marked the end of their long period of

political agitation.

In whatever literary form Warren wrote, she had but one theme-liberty. In her farces and

history, it was national and political freedom. In her poems, it was intellectual freedom. In her

anti-Federalist pamphlet, it was individual freedom. Throughout all of these works, moreover,

runs the thread of freedom (equal treatment) for women. Not militant, she nevertheless urged

men to educate their daughters and to treat their wives as equals.

1. Which of the following is the main topic of the Passage?

(

A) Mercy Otis Warren and other poets of the Revolutionary War period

B) The development of Mercy Otis Warren‟s writing style

C) Mercy Otis Warren‟s contributions to American literature and society

D) The friends and acquaintances of Mercy Otis Warren

2

. In what year was Warren's pamphlet about the Constitution written?

A) 1776 (B) 1788 (C) 1790

(

(D) 1805

59

PRACTICE TEST 58 – January 1990

3

. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a kind of writing done by Warren?

A) Farces (B) Poetry (C) Plays

(

(D) Advertisements

4. The author implies that Mercy Otis Warren felt the Constitution would fail to Protect

(

A) literary progress

(B) political parties

C) the American economy

(D) personal freedom

5

6

7

. In line 21 the word "but" could best be replaced by which of the following?

(

A) only (B) yet (C) still

(D) however

(D) religious

. According to the passage. the kind of liberty emphasized in Warren's poems was

A) national (B) intellectual (C) political

(

. In lines 24-25, the author refers to Warren as "not militant" to indicate that she

(

A) remained politically aloof

B) did not continue agitating for a Bill of flights

C) did not campaign aggressively for women's rights

D) did not support military conscription

60

PRACTICE TEST 59

May 1990

Passage 1

In the past oysters were raised in much the same way as dirt farmers raised tomatoes –

by transplanting them. First, farmers selected the oyster bed, cleared the bottom of old shells

and other debris, then scattered clean shells about. Next, they" planted" fertilized oyster eggs,

which within two or three weeks hatched into larvae. The larvae drifted until they attached

themselves to the clean shells on the bottom. There they remained and in time grew into baby

oysters called seed or spat. The spat grew larger by drawing in seawater from which they

derived microscopic particles of food. Before long farmers gathered the baby oysters

transplanted them in other waters to speed up their growth, then transplanted them once more

into another body of water to fatten them up.

Until recently; the supply of wild oysters and those crudely farmed were more than

enough to satisfy people's needs. But today the delectable seafood is no longer available in

abundance. The problem has become so serious that some oyster beds have vanished entirely.

Fortunately, as far back as the early 1900's marine biologists realized that if new measures

were not taken, oysters would become extinct or at best a luxury food. So they set up well

equipped hatcheries and went to work. But they did not have the proper equipment or the skill to

handle the eggs. They did not know when, what, and how to feed the larvae. And they knew

little about the predators that attack and eat baby oysters by the millions. They failed, but they

doggedly kept at it. Finally. in the 1940's a significant breakthrough was made.

The marine biologists discovered that by raising the temperature of the water, they could

induce oysters to spawn not only in the summer but also in the fall, winter, and spring. Later

they developed a technique for feeding the larvae and rearing them to spat. Going still further,

they succeeded in breeding new strains that were resistant to diseases, grew faster and larger,

and flourished in water of different salinities and temperatures. In addition, the cultivated oysters

tasted better.

1. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

(

A) The Threatened Extinction of Marine Life

B) The Cultivation of Oysters

C) The Discoveries Made by Marine Biologists

D) The Varieties of Wild Oysters

2

3

4

. In the first paragraph, the production of oysters is compared to what other industry?

(

A) Mining B) Fishing C) Banking D) Farming

. In the passage, which of the following is NOT mentioned as a stage of an oyster's life?

A) Debris B) Egg C) Larvae D) Spat

(

. When did scientists discover that oysters were in danger?

(

A) In the early part of the 19th century

C) In the 1940's

(B) At the beginning of this century

(D) Just recently

5. According to the passage, which of the following words best describes the efforts of the marine biologists

working with oysters?

(

A) Persistent

(B) Intermittent

(C) Traditional

(D) Fruitless

6. In the passage, the author mentions that the new strains of oyster are

(

A) cheaper

(B) shaped differently

(D) healthier

C) better textured

61

PRACTICE TEST 59 – May 1990

7. In what paragraph does the author describe successful methods for increasing the oyster population?

(

A) First

(B) Second

(C) Third

(D) Fourth

8. Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?

(

A) Step by step description of the evolution of marine biology

B) Discussion of chronological events concerning oyster production

C) Random presentation of facts about oysters

D) Description of oyster production at different geographic locations

Passage 2

Political controversy about the public-land policy of the United States began with the

American Revolution. In fact, even before independence from Britain was won, it became clear

that resolving the dilemmas surrounding the public domain prove necessary to preserve the

Union itself.

At the peace negotiations with Britain. Americans demanded, and got, a western

boundary at the Mississippi River. Thus the new nation secured for its birthright a vas internal

empire rich in agricultural and mineral resources. But under their colonial charters, seven states-

Massachusetts. Connecticut. New York. Virginia. North Carolina. South Carolina, and Georgia-

claimed portions of the western wilderness. Virginia's claim was the largest, stretching north and

west to encompass the later states of Kentucky. Ohio. Indiana. Illinois. Michigan, and

Wisconsin. The language of the charters was vague and their validity questionable, but during

the war Virginia reinforced its title by sponsoring colonel George Rogers Clark's 1778 expedition

to Vincennes and Kaskaskia, which strengthened America's trans-Appalachian pretensions at

the peace table.

The six states holding no claim to the transmontane region doubted whether a

confederacy in which territory was so unevenly apportioned would truly prove what it claimed to

be a union of equals. Already New Jersey, Delaware. Rhode Island, and Maryland were among

the smallest and least populous of the states. While they levied heavy taxes to repay state war

debts, their larger neighbors might retire debts out of land sale proceeds. Drawn by fresh lands

and low taxes, people would desert the small states for the large, leaving the former to fall into

bankruptcy and eventually into political subjugation. All the states shared in the war effort, said

the New Jersey legislature, how then could half of them 'be left to sink under an enormous debt,

whilst others are enabled, in a short period, to replace all their expenditures from the hard

earnings of the whole confederacy?' As the Revolution was a common endeavor, so ought its

fruits, including the western lands, to be a common property.

1. With which of the following topics is the passage primarily concerned?

(

A) A controversial public-land policy

C) The land holdings of Massachusetts

(B) How independence from Britain was won

(D) How New Jersey developed its western land

2. According to the passage, the British granted the new American nation a western boundary at

(

A) Ohio

(B) Illinois

C) the Mississippi River

(D) the Appalachian Mountains

3

. Which state laid claim to the largest land -holdings?

A) North Carolina (B) South Carolina

(

(C) Virginia

(D) Georgia

4

. In line 8, the word "stretching" could best be replaced by which of the following?

A) Lengthening (B) Increasing (C) Exaggerating

(

(D) Extending

62

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

5. Why does the author mention Colonel Clark' S expedition?

(

A) To explain how one state strengthened its land claims

B) To criticize an effort to acquire additional agricultural resources

C) To show that many explorers searched for new lands

D) To question the validity of Virginia‟s claims

6

. According to the passage, the smaller states tried to raise money to pay their war debts by

A) collecting taxes (B) exporting crops (C) selling land (D) raising cattle

(

Passage 3

Without regular supplies of some hormones our capacity to behave would be seriously

impaired; without others we would soon die. Tiny amounts of some hormones can modify our

moods and our actions, our inclination to eat or drink, our aggressiveness or submissiveness

and our reproduction and parental behavior. And hormones do more than influence adult

behavior; early in life they help to determine the development of bodily form and may even

determine an individual's behavior capacities. Later in life the changing outputs of some

endocrine glands and the body's changing sensitivity to some hormones are essential aspects

of the phenomena of aging.

Communication within the body and the consequent integration of behavior were

considered the exclusive province of the nervous system up to the beginning of the present

century. The emergence of endocrinology as a separate discipline can probably be traced to the

experiments of Bayliss and Starling on the hormone secreting. This substance is secreted from

cells in the intestinal walls when food enters the stomach: it travels through the bloodstream and

stimulates the pancreas to liberate pancreatic juice, which aids in digestion. By showing that

special cells secrete chemical agents that are conveyed by the bloodstream and regulate

distant target organs or tissues, Bayliss and Starling demonstrated that chemical integration can

occur without participation of the nervous system.

The term "hormone" was first used with reference to secreting. Starling derived the term

from the Greek “hormon”, meaning "to excite or set in motion." The term "endocrine" was

introduced shortly thereafter. "Endocrine" is used to refer to glands that secrete products into

the bloodstream. The term "endocrine" contrasts with "exocrine," which is applied to glands that

secrete their products through ducts to the site of action. Examples of exocrine glands are the

tear glands, the sweat glands, and the pancreas, which secretes pancreatic juice through a duct

into the intestine. Exocrine glands are also called duct glands, while endocrine glands are called

ductless.

1. What is the author' s main purpose in the passage?

(

A) To explain the specific functions of various hormones

B) To provide general information about hormones

C) To explain how the term "hormone" evolved

D) To report on experiments in endocrinology

2. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as an effect of hormones?

(

A) Modification of behavior

C) Aggressive feelings

(B) Sensitivity to hunger and thirst

(D) Maintenance of blood pressure

3. The passage supports which of the following conclusions?

(

A) The human body requires large amounts of most hormones.

B) Synthetic hormones can replace a person's natural supply of hormones if necessary.

63

PRACTICE TEST 59 – May 1990

(

C) The quantity of hormones produced and their effects on the body are related to a person's age.

D) The short child of tall parents very likely had a hormone deficiency early in life.

4. It can be inferred from the passage that, before the Bayliss and Starling experiments, most people

believed that chemical integration occurred only

(

A) during sleep

(B) in the endocrine glands

(D) during strenuous exercise

C) under control of the nervous system

5

. In line 14, the word "liberate" could best be replaced by which of the following?

A) Emancipate (B) Discharge (C) Surrender

(

(D) Save

6. According to the passage, another term for exocrine glands is

(

A) duct glands

(B) endocrine glands

(D) intestinal glands

C) ductless glands

Passage 4

During her New York days, Mabel Dodge had preached the gospel of Gertrude Stein and

spread the fame of her new style. Like Miss Stein, Mabel Dodge had long planned to "upset”

America with fatal disaster to the old older of things,

Gertrude Stein had no interest in anything that was not aggressively modern. She had

conceived it as a part of her mission to "kill" the nineteenth century "dead," and she was

convinced that her work was "really the beginning of modern writing." Her story "Melanctha" in

Three Lives, privately printed in 1907, was the "first definite step," as she wrote later, into the

twentieth century". There was at least a grain of truth in this.

Just then the movement of modem art, so called for many years, was also beginning in

Paris with Matisse and Picasso, and Gertrude Stein and her brother Leo were friends of these

protagonists. The Stems had the means to buy their pictures. Gertrude shared, moreover, the

point of view of these avant-garde artists, and she endeavored to parallel in words their effects

in paint.

Gertrude Stein wrote her "Melanotha" while posing for Picasso' s portrait of herself.

Picasso had just discovered African sculpture, previously interesting only to curio hunters, and

this may have set her mind running on the Black girl Melanctha, whose story was the longest

and most moving of her Three Lives. It was not difficult to find in these a trace of the influence of

African art, with the influence alike of Matisse and Picasso.

1. With what topic is the passage primarily concerned?

(

A) Gertrude Stein‟s most important works

B) The avant-garde community in New York

C) Gertrude Stein' S contribution to the development of modern literature

D) The reactions of various critics to modern art and literature

2. In the first paragraph, the author uses the phrase "preached the gospel" in order to emphasize Mabel

Dodge's

(

A) intense devotion to Gertrude Stein

B) wide popularity with religious groups

C) competitive feelings toward Gertrude Stein

D) deep admiration for nineteenth-century literature

3. According to the passage, Gertrude Stein was not interested in anything that was not

(

A) controversial (B) modern (C) literary (D) aggressive

64

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

4. According to the passage. Gertrude Stein planned to "kill" the nineteenth century by

(

A) ridiculing the writers of that period

B) creating a form of writing for the twentieth century

C) destroying all the books written during that period

D) printing booklets promoting the merits of twentieth-century literature

5. The story “Melanctha” first appeared in the

(

A) mid-nineteenth century

C) early twentieth century

(B) late nineteenth century

(D) mid-twentieth century

6. Which of the following statements about the relationship between Gertrude Stein S and Henri Matisse‟s

work can be inferred from the passage?

(

A) Matisse and Stein had very different ways of depicting reality.

B) Matisse's later paintings were influenced by Stein's work.

C) Stein preferred Matisse's work to that of other artists because it was more abstract.

D) Stein tried to recreate in her writing the effects in Matisse's paintings.

7. Which of the following is mentioned as one of Picasso's interests?

(

A) African art

(B) Classical literature

(D) Modern literature

C) American art

Passage 5

Nast played an important role in President Lincoln's reelection In 1864 the war was not

going well for the North. Many people blamed Lincoln. They were tired of the war. The

Democratic candidate. General George B. McClellan, promised peace at any price. Lincoln

didn't think he had a chance to be reelected. In August he wrote: "It seems exceedingly

probable that this administration will not be reelected. But he had not counted on the support of

Thomas Nast. Nast drew cartoons showing McCellan as a man who would compromise with the

South. The cartoons were effective, and helped President Lincoln win reelection.

1. What is the author' s main point?

(

A) Lincoln asked Thomas Nast for help. but Nast refused.

B) Voters wanted a compromise with the South.

C) Lincoln thought the voters would blame him for not ending the war.

D) Thomas Nast's cartoons helped to reelect Lincoln.

2. According to the passage. how did Lincoln feel about his chances for reelection?

(

A) Doubtful

(B) Enthusiastic

C) Indifferent

(D) President Lincoln's successor

3. It can be assumed that the paragraph preceding the passage most probably discussed

(

A) the United States economy

C) General George B McClellan

(B) Thomas Nast

(D) President Lincoln's successor

65

PRACTICE TEST 60

August 1990

Passage 1

Scientists estimate that about 35,000 other objects, too small to detect with radar but

detectable with powerful Earth-based telescopes, are also circling the Earth at an altitude of 200

to 700 miles. This debris poses little danger to us on the Earth, but since it is traveling at

average relative speeds of six miles per second, it can severely damage expensive equipment

in a collision. This threat was dramatized by a cavity one-eighth of an inch in diameter created

in a window of a United States space shuttle in 1983. The pit was determined to have been

caused by a collision with a speck of paint traveling at a speed of about two to four miles per

second. The window had to be replaced.

As more and more nations put satellites into space, the risk of collision can only increase.

Measures are already being taken to control the growth of orbital debris. The United States has

always required its astronauts to bag their wastes and return them to .Earth. The United States

Air Force has agreed to conduct low-altitude rather than high-altitude tests of objects it puts into

space so debris from tests will reenter the Earth's atmosphere and burn up. Extra shielding will

also reduce the risk of damage. For example, 2,000 pounds of additional shielding is being

considered for each of six space-station crew modules. Further, the European Space Agency,

an international consortium is also looking into preventive measures.

1. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

(

A) The Problem of Space Debris

B) The Space Shuttle of 1983

C) The Work of the European Space Agency

D) A Collision in Space

2. It can be inferred from the passage that debris was harmful to one of the space shuttles because the

debris was

(

A) large

(B) moving very fast

C) radioactive

(D) burning uncontrollably

3. What effect did orbital debris have on one of the space shuttles?

(

A) It removed some of the paint

C) It caused a loss of altitude

(B) It damaged one of the windows

(D) It led to a collision with a space station

4

. The word “them" in line 11 refers to which of the following?

A) Astronauts (B) Wastes (C) Tests

(

(D) Crew modules

5. Which of the following questions is NOT answered by the information in the passage?

(

A) How can small objects orbiting the Earth be seen?

B) What is being done to prevent orbital debris from increasing?

C) Why is the risk of damage to space equipment likely to increase?

D) When did the United States Air Force begin making tests in space?

6. Where in the passage does the writer mention a method of protecting space vehicles against damage by

space debris?

(

A) Lines 1-3

(B) Lines 6-8

(C) Line 9

(D) Lines 13-15

66

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

Passage 2

Scattered through the seas of the world are billions of tons of small plants and animals

called plankton. Most of these plants and animals are too small for the human eye to see. They

drift about lazily with the currents, providing a basic food for many larger animals,

Plankton has been described as the equivalent of the grasses that grow on the dry land

continents, and the comparison is an appropriate one. In potential food value, however,

plankton far outweighs that of the land grasses. One scientist has estimated that white grasses

of the world produce about 49 billion tons of valuable carbohydrates each year, the sea's

plankton generates more than twice as much.

Despite its enormous food potential, little effort was made until recently to farm plankton

as we farm grasses on land. Now, marine scientists have at last begun to study this possibility.

especially as the sea's resources loom even more important as a means of feeding an

expanding world population.

No one yet has seriously suggested that "planktonburgers" may soon become popular

around the world. As a possible farmed supplementary food source, however, plankton is

gaining considerable interest among marine scientists.

One type of plankton that seems to have great harvest possibilities is a tiny shrimplike

creature called krill. Growing to two or three inches long, krill provide the major food for the giant

blue whale, the largest animal ever to inhabit the Earth, flealizing that this whale may grow to

100 feet and weigh 150 tons at maturity, it is not surprising that each one devours more than

one ton of krill daily.

Krill swim about just below the surface in huge schools sometimes miles wide, mainly in

the cold Antarctic. Because of their pink color, they often appear as a solid reddish mass when

viewed from a ship or from the air. Krill are very high in food value A pound of these

crustaceans contains about 460 calories-about the same as shrimp or lobster to which they are

related.

If the krill can feed such huge creatures as whales, many scientists reason. they must

certainly be contenders as a new food source for humans.

1. Which of the following statements best describes the organization of the passage?

(

A) The author presents the advantages and disadvantages of plankton as a food source.

B) The author quotes public opinion to support the argument for farming plankton.

C) The author classifies the different food sources according to amount of carbohydrate.

D) The author makes a general statement about plankton as a food source and then moves to a

specific example.

2. According to the passage, why is plankton considered to be more valuable than land grasses?

(

A) It is easier to cultivate

C) It does not require soil

(B) It produces more carbohydrates

(D) It is more palatable

3. Why does the author mention "planktonburgers" in line 13 ?

(

A) To describe the appearance of one type of plankton

B) To illustrate how much plankton a whale consumes

C) To suggest plankton as a possible food source

D) To compare the food values of beef and plankton

4. Blue whales have been known to weigh how much at maturity?

(

A) One ton

(B) Forty tons

C) One hundred and fifty tons

(D) Four hundred and sixty tons

67

PRACTICE TEST 60 – August 1990

5. What is mentioned as one distinguishing feature of krill?

(

A) They are the smallest marine animals:

C) They are similar in size to lobsters.

(B) They are pink in color.

(D) They have grass-like bodies.

6. The author mentions all of the following as reasons why plankton could be considered a human food

source EXCEPT that it is

(

A) high in food value

(B) in abundant supply in the oceans

(A) free of chemicals and pollutants

C) an appropriate food for other animals

7. Where in the passage does the author first compare plankton to land grasses?

(

A) Lines 2–3 (B) Lines 4–5 (C) Lines 13–14

(D) Lines 16–17

Passage 3

The most interesting architectural phenomenon of the 1970's was the enthusiasm for

refurbishing older buildings. Obviously, this was not an entirely new phenomenon. What is new

is the wholesale interest in reusing the past, in recycling, in adaptive rehabilitation. A few trial

efforts, such as Ghirardell Square in San Francisco, proved their financial viability in the 1960's,

but it was in the 1970s. with strong government support through tax incentives and rapid

depreciation, as well as growing interest in ecology issues, that recycling became a major factor

on the urban scene.

One of the most comprehensive ventures was the restoration and transformation of

Boston's eighteenth century Faneuil Hal' and the Quincy Market, designed in 1924 This section

had fallen on hard times, but beginning with the construction of a new city hall immediately

adjacent. it has returned to life with the intelligent reuse of these fine old buildings under the

design leadership of Benjamin Thompson. He has provided a marvelous setting for dining,

shopping, professional offices, and simply walking.

Butler Square, in Minneapolis, exemplifies major changes in its complex of offices,

commercial space, and public amenities carved out of a massive pile designed in 1906 as a

hardware warehouse. The exciting interior timber structure of the building was highlighted by

cutting light courts through the interior and adding large skylights. San Antonio, Texas, offers an

object lesson for numerous other cities combating urban decay. Rather than bringing in the

bulldozers. San Antonio's leaders rehabilitated existing structures, while simultaneously

cleaning up the San Antonio River, which meanders through the business district.

1. What is the main idea of the passage?

(

A) During the 1970's, old buildings in many cities were recycled for modern use.

B) Recent interest in ecology issues has led to the cleaning up of many rivers.

C) The San Antonio example shows that bulldozers are not the way to fight urban Decay.

D) Strong government support has made adaptive rehabilitation a reality in

2

3

4

. What is the space at Quincy Market now used for?

(

A) Boston's new city hall

(B) Sports and recreational facilities

(D) Restaurants, offices, and stores

C) Commercial and industrial warehouses

. According to the passage, Benjamin Thompson was the designer for a project in

(

A) San Francisco

C) Minneapolis

(B) Boston

(D) San Antonio

. When was the Butler Square building originally built?

A) In the eighteenth century

(

(B) In the early nineteenth century

68

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

(

C) In the late nineteenth century (D) In the early twentieth century

5

6

. What is the author's opinion of the San Antonio project?

(

A) It is clearly the best of the projects discussed.

B) It is a good project that could be copied in other cities.

C) The extensive use of bulldozers made the project unnecessarily costly.

D) The work done on the river was more important than the work done on the buildings.

. The passage states that the San Antonio project differed from those in Boston and Minneapolis in which of

the following ways?

(

A) It consisted primarily of new construction.

B) It occurred in the business district.

C) It involved the environment as well as buildings.

D) It was designed to combat urban decay.

Passage 4

The classic Neanderthals, who lived between about 70,000 and 30,000 years ago, shared

a number of special characteristics. Like any biological population, Neanderthals also showed

variation in the degree to which those characteristics were expressed. Generally, they were

powerfully built, short and stocky, with the lower parts of their arms and legs short in relation to

the upper parts, as in modern peoples who live in cold environments. Neanderthal skulls were

distinctive, housing brains even larger on average than those of modem humans, a feature that

may have had more to do with their large, heavy bodies than with superior intelligence. Seen

from behind, Neanderthal skulls look almost spherical, but from the side they are long and

flattened often with a bulging back.

The Neanderthal face, dominated by a projecting and full nose, differed clearly from the

faces of other hominids; the middle parts appear to be pulled forward (or the sides pulled back),

resulting in a rather streamlined face shape. This peculiarity may have been related to the

greater importance (in cultural activities as well as food processing) of the front teeth, which are

large and part of a row of teeth that lies well forward in the head; it may reflect a reduction in

importance of certain jaw muscles operating at the sides of the face; or it may reflect an

adaptation to cold. Whether it results from any or all of these three factors or from other,

undiscovered causes, this midfacial projection is so characteristic that it unfailingly identifies a

Neanderthal to the trained eye. Neanderthal teeth are much more difficult to characterize: the

front teeth are large, with strong roots, but the back teeth may be relatively small. This feature

may have been an adaptation to cope with heavy tooth wear

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(

A) The eating habits of the Neanderthals

B) A comparison of various prehistoric populations

C) The physical characteristics of the Neanderthals

D) The effect of climate on human development

2

. The author describes the Neanderthal as being all of the following EXCEPT

A) short (B) swift (C) strong

(

(D) stocky

3. Which of the following most likely accounts for the fact that the Neanderthal brain was larger than that of

the modern human?

(

A) The relatively large size of the Neanderthal's body

B) The superior intelligence of the Neanderthal.

C) The swelling behind the Neanderthal‟s head

69

PRACTICE TEST 60 – August 1990

(

D) The Neanderthal's midfacial projection

4. Where in the passage does the author specifically stress the contrast between the Neanderthal face and

that of other biologically related populations?

(

A) Lines 1–4

(B) Lines 7–9

(C) Lines 10–11

(D) Lines 18–20

5. Which of the following explanations is NOT cited as a possible explanation of the Neanderthal‟s

streamlined face shape?

(

A) Some jaw muscles had limited use.

B) The facial features were well adapted to the cold.

C) The front teeth were particularly important.

D) The nose was set far back

6

. The phrase "the trained eye" in line 18 most likely refers to which of the following professionals?

A) An optometrist (B) A dentist (C) An anthropologist (D) A photographer

(

7. In line 20, the author uses the expression "heavy tooth wear" to imply that the Neanderthals

(

A) had unusually heavy teeth

(B) used their teeth extensively

(D) used teeth for ornamentation

C) regularly pulled out their teeth

8. The paragraph following this passage most probably discusses

(

A) other features of the Neanderthal anatomy

C) flora and fauna of 70,000 years ago

(B) cave painting of prehistoric time

(D) difficulties in preserving fossils

Passage 5

Television was not invented by any one person. Nor did it spring into being overnight. It

evolved gradually, over a long period, from the ideas of many people-each one building on the

work of their predecessors. The process began in 1873, when it was accidentally discovered

that the electrical resistance of' the element selenium varied in proportion to the intensity of the

light shining on it. 'Scientists quickly recognized that this provided, away of 'transforming light

variations' into electri6al" signals. Almost immediately a number of schemes were proposed for

sending pictures by wire ( it was, of course, before radio).

One of the earliest of these schemes was patterned on the human eye Suggested by G.

R. Carey in 1875, it envisioned a mosaic of selenium cells on which the picture to' be

transmitted would be focused by a lens system. At the receiving end there would be a similarly

arranged mosaic made up of electric lights. Each selenium cell would be connected by an

individual wire to the similarly placed light in the receiving mosaic. Light falling on the selenium

cell would cause the associated electric light to shine in proportion. Thus the mosaic of lights

would reproduce the original picture. Had the necessary amplifiers and the right kind of lights

been available, this system would have worked. But it also would have required an impractical

number of connecting wires. Carey recognized this and in a second scheme proposed to "scan"

the cells-transmitting the signal from each cell to its associated light, in turn over 3 single wire. If

this were done fast enough the retentive image to be seen as a complete picture.

1. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

(

A) The Art of Television

(B) Television in the Electronic Era

C) Harmful Effects of Television

(D) First step in the Invention of Television

2

. In line 1 of the passage, the word "being" could best be replaced by which of the following?

A) place (B) existence (C) creature (D) subsistence

(

3. An important discovery in early television was the electrical resistance of

70

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

(

A) mosaics

C) lenses

(B) the human eye

(D) the element selenium

71

PRACTICE TEST 61

October 1990

Passage 1

During the early years of this century, wheat was seen as the very lifeblood of Western

Canada. When the crops were good, the economy was good; when the crops failed, there was

depression. People on city streets watched the yields and the price of wheat with almost as

much feeling as if they were growers. The marketing of wheat became an increasingly favorite

topic of conversation.

War set the stage for the most dramatic events in marketing the western crop. For years,

farmers mistrusted speculative grain selling as carried on through the Winnipeg Grain

Exchange. Wheat prices were generally low in the autumn, but farmers could not wait for

markets to improve. It had happened too often that they sold their wheat soon after harvest

when' farm debts were coming due, only to see prices rising and speculators getting rich. On

various occasions, producer groups asked for firmer controls. but governments had no wish to

become involved, at least not until wartime wheat prices threatened to run wild.

Anxious to check inflation and rising living costs, the federal government appointed a

board of grain supervisors to handle deliveries from the crops of 1917 and 1918. Grain

Exchange trading was suspended, and farmers sold at prices fixed by the board. To handle the

crop of 919, the government appointed the first Canadian Wheat Board, with full authority to

buy, sell, and set prices.

1. What is the main purpose of the passage?

(

A) To explain how wheat is marketed today

B) To justify suspension of trading on the Grain Exchange

C) To describe the origins of the Canadian Wheat Board

D) To argue for further reforms on the Canadian Wheat Board

2. The author uses the term "lifeblood" (line 1) to indicate that wheat was

(

A) difficult to produce in large quantities

C) essential to the health of the country

(B) susceptible to many parasites

(D) expensive to gather and transport.

3. According to the passage, most farmers debts had to be paid

(

A) when the autumn harvest had just been competed

A) because wheat prices were high

C) as soon as the Winnipeg Grain Exchange demanded payment

D) when crop failure caused depression

4

5

6

. According to the passage, wheat prices be-came unmanageable because of conditions caused by

(

A) farmers

(B) supervisors

(C) weather

(D) war

. In line 13, the word "check" could best be replaced by which of the following?

A) control (B) investigate (C) finance

(

(D) reinforce

. According to the passage, a preliminary step in the creation of the Canadian Wheat Board was the

appointment of

(

A) the Winnipeg Grain Exchange

C) several producer groups

(B) a board of supervisors

(D) a new government

72

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

Passage 2

American Indians played a central role in the war known as the American Revolution. To

them, however, the dispute between the colonists and England was peripheral. For American

Indians the conflict was a war for American Indian independence, and whichever side they

chose they lost it. Mary Brant was a powerful influence among the Iroquois. She was a Mohawk,

the leader of the society of all Iroquois matrons, and the widow of Sir William Johnson,

Superintendent of Indian Affairs. Her brother, Joseph Brant, is the best-known American Indian

warrior of the Revolution, yet she may have exerted even more influenced in the Confederacy

than he did. She used her influence to keep the western tribes of Iroquois loyal to the English

king, George III. When the colonists won the war, she and her tribe had to abandon their lands

and retreat to Canada. On the other side, Nancy Ward held position of authority in the Cherokee

ration. She had fought as a warrior in the war against the Creeks and as a reward for her

heroism was made "Beloved Woman" of the tribe. This office made her chief of the women's

council and a member of the council of chiefs. She was friendly with the White settlers and

supported the Patriots during the Revolution. Yet the Cherokees too lost their land.

1. What is the main point the author makes in the passage?

(

A) Siding with the English in the Revolution helped American Indians regain their land.

B) At the time of the Revolution, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs had little power.

C) Regardless of whom they supported in the Revolution, American Indians lost their land.

D) The outcome of the Revolution was largely determined by American Indian women.

2

. The word "it" in line 4 refers to

A) side (B) revolution

(

(C) dispute

(D) independence

3. According to the passage, Mary Brant's husband had been a

(

A) government official

C) revolutionary hero

(B) Mohawk chief

(D) Cherokee council member

4. The word "he" in line 8 could be replaced by

(

A) Sir William Johnson

C) Joseph Brant

(B) the Superintendent of Indian Affairs

(D) George Ill

5

. To which tribe did Nancy Ward belong?

A) Mohawk (B) Iroquois

(

(C) Cherokee

(D) Creek

6. How did Nancy Ward gain her position of authority?

(

A) By bravery in battle

(B) By marriage to a chief

B) By joining the Confederacy

(D) By being born into a powerful family

7. According to the. passage, what did Mary Brant and Nancy Ward have in, common?

(

A) Each was called "Beloved Woman" by her tribe.

B) Each influenced her tribe‟s role in the American Revolution

C) Each lost a brother in the American Revolution.

D) Each went to England after the American Revolution.

73

PRACTICE TEST 61 – October 1990

Passage 3

In the late 1960's, many people in North' America turned their attention to environmental

problems and new steel-and-glass skyscrapers were widely criticized. Ecologists pointed out

that a cluster of tall buildings in a city often overburdens public transportation and parking lot

capacities.

Skyscrapers are also lavish consumers, and wasters, of electric power. In one recent

year, the addition of 17 million square feet of skyscraper office space in New York City raised

the peak daily demand for electricity by 120, 000 kilowatts-enough to supply the entire city of

Albany, New York, for a day.

Glass- walled skyscrapers can be especially wasteful The heat loss (or gain) through a

wall of half-inch plate glass is more than ten times that through a typical masonry wall filled with

insulation board. To lessen the strain on heating and air-conditioning equipment builders ~f

skyscrapers have begun to use double glazed panels of glass, and reflective glasses coated

with silver or gold mirror films that reduce glare as well as heat gain. However, mirror-walled

skyscrapers raise the temperature of the surrounding air and affect neighboring buildings.

Skyscrapers put a severe strain on a city‟s sanitation facilities, too. If fully occupied, the

two World Trade Center towers in New York City would alone generate 2.25 million gallons of

raw sewage each year--as much as a city the size of Stamford, Connecticut, which has a

population of more than 109,000.

Skyscrapers also interfere with television reception, block bird flyways, and obstruct air

traffic. In Boston in the late 1960's. some people even feared that shadows from skyscrapers

would kill the grass on Boston Common.

Still, people continue to build skyscrapers for all the reasons that they have always built

them – personal ambition, civic pride, and the desire of owners to have the largest possible

amount of rentable space.

1. The main purpose of the passage is to

(

A) compare skyscrapers with other modern structures

B) describe skyscrapers and their effect on the environment

C) advocate the use of masonry in the construction of skyscrapers

D) illustrate some architectural designs of skyscrapers

2. According to the passage, what is one disadvantage of skyscrapers that have mirrored walls?

(

A) The exterior surrounding air is heated.

C) Construction time is increased.

(B) The windows must be cleaned daily.

(D) Extra air-conditioning equipment is needed.

3. According to the passage, in the late 1960's some residents of Boston were concerned with which aspect

of skyscrapers?

(

A) The noise from their construction

(B) The removal of trees from building sites

(D) The high cost of rentable office space

C) The harmful effects on the city's grass

4. The author raises issues that would most concern which of the following groups?

(

A) Electricians

C) Aviators

(B) Environmentalists

(D) Teachers

5. Where in the passage does the author compare the energy consumption of skyscrapers with that of a

city?

(

A) Lines 5-8

(B) Lines 13-14

(C) Lines 19-21

(D) Lines 22-24

74

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

Passage 4

It was not "the comet of the century experts predicted it might be. Nevertheless, Kohoutek

had provided a bonanza of scientific information. It was first spotted 370 million miles from

Earth, by an astronomer who was searching the sky for asteroids, and after whom the comet

was named. Scientists who tracked Kohoutek the ten months before it passed the Earth

predicted the comet would be a brilliant spectacle. But Kohoutek fell short of these predictions,

disappointing millions of amateur sky watchers, when it proved too pale to be seen with the

unaided eye. Researchers were delighted nonetheless with the nevi information they were able

to glean from their investigation of the comet. Perhaps the most significant discovery was the

identification of two important chemical compounds-methyl cyanide and hydrogen cyanide-

never before seen in comets, but found in the far reaches of interstellar space. This discovery

revealed new clues about the origin of comets. Most astronomers agree that comets are

primordial remnants from the formation of the solar system, but whether they were born

between Jupiter and Neptune or much farther out toward interstellar space has been the subject

of much debate. If compounds no more complex than ammonia and methane, key components

of Jupiter, were seen in comets, it would suggest that comets form within the planetary orbits.

But more complex compounds such as the methyl cyanide found in Kohoutek, point to formation

far beyond the planets there the deep freeze of space has kept them unchanged.

1. What is the subject of the passage?

(

A) What was learned from Kohoutek

C) Where Kohoutek was spotted

(B) What was disappointing about Kohoutek

(D) How Kohoutek was tracked

2. Why was Kohoutek referred to as "the comet of the century"?

(

A) It was thought to be extremely old.

B) It passes the Earth once a century.

C) Scientists predicted it would be very bright.

D) Scientists have been tracking it for a century.

3. In what respect was Kohoutek a disappointment?

(

A) It could be seen only through special equipment.

B) It did not approach the Earth.

C) It did not provide valuable scientific information.

D) It was moving too rapidly for scientists to photograph.

4

5

6

7

. Before the investigation of Kohoutek, where had methyl cyanide been known to exist?

(

A) In comets

(B) On asteroids

C) Between Jupiter and Neptune

(D) Beyond the Earth's solar system

. According to the passage, what is one major component of Jupiter?

(

A) Hydrogen cyanide

C) Hydrogen

(B) Methyl cyanide

(D) Ammonia

. What aspect of Kohoutek did scientists find most interesting?

(

A) Its shape

C) Its orbit

(B) Its composition

(D) Its size

. Which of the following questions is best answered by information gained from Kohoutek?

(

A) Where were comets formed?

(B) When were comets formed?

C) When was the solar system formed?

(D) How was the solar system formed?

75

PRACTICE TEST 61 – October 1990

Passage 5

George Washington Carver showed that plant life was more than just food for animals

and humans. Carver's first step was to analyze plant parts to fine out what they were made of.

He then combined these' simpler isolated substances with other substances to create new

products.

The branch of chemistry that studies and finds ways to use raw materials from farm

products to make industrial products is called chemurgy. Carver was one of the first and

greatest chemurgists of all time. Today the science of chemurgy is better known as the science

of synthetics. Each day people depend on and use synthetic materials made from raw

materials. All his life Carver battled against the disposal of waste materials and warned of the

growing need to develop substitutes for the natural substances being used up by humans.

Carver never cared about getting credit for the new products he created. He never tried to

patent his discoveries or get wealthy from them. He turned down many offers to leave Tuskegee

Institute to become a rich scientist in private industry. Thomas Edison, inventor of the electric

light, offered him a laboratory in Detroit to carry out food research. When the United States

government made him a collaborator in the Mycology and Plant Disease Survey of the

Department of Agriculture, he accepted the position with the understanding that he wouldn't

have to leave Tuskegee. An authority on plant diseases-especially of the fungus variety- sent

hundreds of specimens to the United States Department of Agriculture. At the peak of his

career. Carver's fame and influence were known on every continent.

1. With what topic is the passage mainly concerned?

(

A) The work and career of George Washington Carver

B) The research conducted at Tuskegee Institute

C) The progress of the science of synthetics

D) The use of plants as a source of nutrition

2

. In line 2, the word "step" could best be replaced by

A) footprint (B) action

(

(C) scale

(D) stair

3. According to the passage, chemurgy can be defined as the

(

A) combination of chemistry and metallurgy

B) research on chemistry of the soil

C) study of the relationship between sunlight and energy

D) development of industrial products from farm products

4. Why does the author mention Thomas Edison S offer to Carver?

(

A) To illustrate one of Carver‟s many opportunities

B) To portray the wealth of one of Carver's competitors

C) To contrast Edison‟s contribution with that of Carver

D) To describe Carver‟s dependence on industrial support

5. Which of the following is NOT discussed in the passage as work done by Carver?

(

A) Research on electricity

(B) Analysis of plant parts

C) Invention of new products

(D) Research on plant diseases

76

PRACTICE TEST 62

Questions 1-11

The work of the railroad pioneers in America became the basis for a great surge of

railroad building halfway through the nineteenth century that linked the nation together as

never before. Railroads eventually became the nation‟s number one transportation

Line system, and remained so until the construction of the interstate highway system halfway

(

5)

through the twentieth century. They were of crucial importance in stimulating economic

expansion, but their influence reached beyond the economy and was pervasive in

American society at large.

By 1804, English as well as American inventors had experimented with steam

engines for moving land vehicles. In 1920, John Stevens ran a locomotive and cars

(

10) around in a circular track on his New Jersey estate, which the public saw as an amusing

toy. And in 1825, after opening a short length of track, the Stockton to Darlington Railroad

in England became the first line to carry general traffic. American businesspeople,

especially those in the Atlantic coastal region who looked for better communication with

the West, quickly became interested in the English experiment. The first company in

15) America to begin actual operations was the Baltimore and Ohio, which opened a thirteen-

mile length of track in 1830. It used a team of horses to pull a train of passenger carriages

and freight wagons along the track. Steam locomotive power didn‟t come into regular

service until two years later.

However, for the first decade or more, there was not yet a true railroad system. Even

20) the longest of the lines was relatively short in the 1830‟s, and most of them served simply

to connect water routes to each other, not to link one railroad to another. Even when two

lines did connect, the tracks often differed in width, so cars from one line couldn‟t fit onto

tracks of the next line. Schedules were unreliable and wrecks were frequent. Significantly,

however, some important developments during the 1830‟s and 1840‟s included the

25) introduction of heavier iron rails, more flexible and powerful locomotives, and passenger

cars were redesigned to become more stable, comfortable, and larger. By the end of 1830

only 23 miles of track had been laid in the country. But by 1936, more than 1,000 miles of

track had been laid in eleven States, and within the decade, almost 3,000 miles had been

constructed. By that early age, the United States had already surpassed Great Britain in

30) railroad construction, and particularly from the mid-1860‟s, the late nineteenth century

belonged to the railroads.

(

1

. The word “stimulating” in line 5 is closest in meaning to

A) helping (B) changing

(

(C) promoting

(D) influencing

2. The word “their” in line 6 refers to

(

A) railroad pioneers

(B) railroads

C) the interstate highway system

(D) American society

3. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

(

A) The United States regarded Great Britain as a competitor in developing the most efficient railroad

system

(

B) Steam locomotive power was first used in 1832

C) American businessmen saw railroads as a threat to established businesses

D) Steam locomotives replaced horses because of the distances across the country

77

PRACTICE TEST 62

4. The author concludes that for the first decade or more, there was not yet a true railroad system because

(

A) passenger cars were not stable, comfortable or large

B) locomotives were not powerful enough

C) schedules were unreliable and wrecks were frequent

D) lines were relatively short and not usually linked

5. The word “schedules” in line 23 is closest in meaning to:

(

A) safety procedures

C) timetables

(B) employees

(D) railroad tracks

6. Which of the following is NOT true about the 1830‟s and 1840‟s (line 24)

(

A) passenger cars became larger

(B) schedules were reliable

(D) tracks were heavier

C) locomotives became more powerful

7

8

9

1

. The word “stable” in line 26 is closest in meaning to

(

A) fixed (B) supportive

(C) reliable

(D) sound

. By what time had almost 3,000 miles of track been laid?

A) 1830 (B) 1836 (C) 1840

(

(D) mid-1860s

(D) equaled

. The word “surpassed” in line 29 is closest in meaning to

A) exceeded (B) beaten (C) overtaken

(

0. Where in the passage does the author outline the main conclusions about the importance of railroads in

America?

(

A) Lines 3-7

(B) Lines 14-18

(C) Lines 19-21

(D) Lines 29-31

11. Why does the author include details about Great Britain in the passage?

(

A) To compare developments in both the United States and Great Britain

B) To illustrate the competitiveness between the two countries

C) To show where Americans got their ideas and technology from

D) To provide a more complete historical context

Questions 12-19

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded annually and the first woman to win this prize was

Baroness Bertha Felicie Sophie von Suttner in 1905. In fact, her work inspired the creation

of the Prize. The first American woman to win this prize was Jane Addams, in 1931.

Line However, Addams is best known as the founder of Hull House.

(

5)

Jane Addams was born in 1860, into a wealthy family. She was one of a small

number of women in her generation to graduate from college. Her commitment to

improving the lives of those around her led her to work for social reform and world peace.

In the 1880s Jane Addams traveled to Europe. While she was in London, she visited a

„settlement house‟ called Toynbee Hall. Inspired by Toynbee Hall, Addams and her friend,

10) Ellen Gates Starr, opened Hull House in a neighborhood of slums in Chicago in 1899. Hull

House provided a day care center for children of working mothers, a community kitchen,

and visiting nurses. Addams and her staff gave classes in English literacy, art, and other

subjects. Hull House also became a meeting place for clubs and labor unions. Most of the

people who worked with Addams in Hull House were well educated, middle-class women.

15) Hull House gave them an opportunity to use their education and it provided a training

ground for careers in social work.

Before World War I, Addams was probably the most beloved woman in America. In a

newspaper poll that asked, “Who among our contemporaries are of the most value to the

78

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

community?”, Jane Addams was rated second, after Thomas Edison. When she opposed

(

20) America‟s involvement in World War I, however, newspaper editors called her a traitor and

a fool, but she never changed her mind. Jane Addams was a strong champion of several

other causes. Until 1920, American women could not vote. Addams joined in the

movement for women‟s suffrage and was a vice president of the National American

Woman Suffrage Association. She was a founding member of the National Association for

25) the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and was president of the Women‟s

International League for Peace and Freedom. . Her reputation was gradually restored

during the last years of her life. She died of cancer in 1935.

12. With which of the following subjects is the passage mainly concerned?

(

A) The first award of the Nobel Peace Prize to an American woman

B) A woman‟s work for social reform and world peace

C) The early development of Social Work in America

D) Contributions of educated women to American society

13. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

(

A) the work of Baroness Bertha Felicie Sophie von Suttner was an inspiration to Jane Addams

B) Jane Addams is most famous for her opening of Hull House

C) those who lived near Hull House had very poor literacy skills

D) Jane Addams considered herself as a citizen of the world rather than of one particular country

1

4. The word “commitment” in line 6 is closest in meaning to

A) involvement (B) obligation (C) dedication

(

(D) enthusiasm

15. Jane Addams was inspired to open Hull House because:

(

A) it gave educated women an opportunity to use their education and develop careers in social work

B) she traveled to Europe in the 1880s

C) she visited Toynbee Hall

D) she was invited by a „settlement house‟ in Chicago

1

6. The word “their” in line 15 refers to

(

A) children of working mothers

C) visiting nurses

(B) middle-class women

(D) labor union members

7. The word “contemporaries” in line 18 is closest in meaning to

(

A) people of the same time

C) elected officials

(B) famous people still alive

(D) people old enough to vote

8. According to the passage, Jane Addams‟ reputation was damaged when she

(

A) allowed Hull House to become a meeting place for clubs and labor unions

C) joined in the movement for women‟s suffrage

C) became a founding member of the NAACP

D) opposed America‟s involvement in World War I

19. Where in the passage does the author mention the services provided by Hull House?

(

A) Lines 5-10 (B) Lines 10-15 (C) Lines 15-20

(D) Lines 20-25

79

PRACTICE TEST 62

Questions 20-29

The medieval artists didn‟t know about perspective; they didn‟t want to make their

people look like real, individual people in a real, individual scene. They wanted to show the

truth, the eternal quality of their religious stories. So these artists didn‟t need to know

Line about perspective.

(

5)

In the European Renaissance period, artists wanted to show the importance of the

individual person and his or her possessions and surroundings. A flat medieval style

couldn‟t show this level of reality and the artists needed a new technique. It was the Italian

artist Brunelleschi who discovered the technique of perspective drawing. At first the artists

of the Renaissance only had single-point perspective. Later they realized that they could

(

10) have two-pointed perspective and still later multi-point perspective.

With two-point perspective they could turn an object (like a building) at an angle to

the picture and draw two sides of it. The technique of perspective which seems so natural

to us now is an invented technique, a part of the “grammar of painting”. Like all bits of

grammar there are exceptions about perspective. For example, only vertical and horizontal

15) surfaces seem to meet on eye level. Sloping roof tops don‟t meet on eye level.

(

For 500 years, artists in Europe made use of perspective drawing in their pictures.

Nevertheless, there are a range of priorities that artists in displaying individual styles.

Crivelli wanted to show depth in his picture and he used a simple single-point perspective.

Cezanne always talked about space and volume. Van Gogh, like some of the other

20) painters of the Impressionist period, was interested in Japanese prints. And Japanese

artists until this century were always very strong designers of “flat” pictures. Picasso

certainly made pictures which have volume and depth. However, he wanted to keep our

eyes on the surface and to remind us that his paintings are paintings and not illusions.

It is technically easy to give an illusion of depth. However, a strong two dimensional

25) design is just as important as a feeling of depth, and perhaps more important.

20. The passage mainly discusses

(

A) the difference between medieval and Renaissance art

B) how the technique of perspective influenced the modern art

C) the discovery of the technique of perspective

D) the contribution of Renaissance artists

2

1. The word “eternal” in line 3 is closest in meaning to

A) timeless (B) infinite

(

(C) frequent

(D) constant

22. According to the passage, which is the main concern for medieval artists?

(

A) the individual person and his/her possessions and surroundings

B) real people, real scenes

C) eternal timeless truth of the earth

D) themes of religious stories

23. The discovery of perspective was the result of

(

A) Renaissance artists‟ to prove that the medieval artists could show level of reality

B) the need to turn an object at an angle and draw more than one side of it

C) the subject being shifted from religious stories to individual person and surroundings.

D) natural evolution of human senses

80

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

2

4. The word “it” in line 12 refers to

A) the picture (B) perspective

(

(C) angle

(D) the object

25. The word “Grammar ” in line 13 is closest in meaning to

(

A) construction

(B) grammatical rules

(D) tones and volume

C) rules and regulations

26. The author‟s purpose to give the example in line14-15 is to

(

A) explain how perspective work in painting

B) support two-pointed perspective

C) illustrate that there are exceptions about perspective

D) point out that the technique of perspective though seems so natural is an invented technique

2

7. The following artists‟ priorities in style shift away from perspective EXCEPT

(

A) Crivelli

(B) Cezanne

(C) Japanese artists

(D) Brunelleschi

(D) illustration

8. The word ”Illusion” in line 25 is closest in meaning to

A) deception (B) photograph

(

(C) decoration

9. It can be inferred from the passage that Renaissance artists

(

A) embraced the medieval style of eternal truth

B) needed to develop a new approach towards painting to show a new level of reality

C) were inspired by vertical and horizontal surfaces in inventing the technique of perspective

D) saw two dimensional design more important than a feeling of depth

Questions 30-39

There are two main hypotheses when it comes to explaining the emergence of

modern humans. The „Out of Africa‟ theory holds that homo sapiens burst onto the scene

as a new species around 150,000 to 200,000 years ago in Africa and subsequently

Line replaced archaic humans such as the Neandertals. The other model, known as multi-

(

5)

regional evolution or regional continuity, posits far more ancient and diverse roots for our

kind. Proponents of this view believe that homo sapiens arose in Africa some 2 million

years ago and evolved as a single species spread across the Old World, with populations

in different regions linked through genetic and cultural exchange.

Of these two models, Out of Africa, which was originally developed based on fossil

(

10) evidence, and supported by much genetic research, has been favored by the majority of

evolution scholars. The vast majority of these genetic studies have focused on DNA from

living populations, and although some small progress has been made in recovering DNA

from Neandertal that appears to support multi-regionalism, the chance of recovering

nuclear DNA from early human fossils is quite slim at present. Fossils thus remain very

15) much a part of the human origins debate.

Another means of gathering theoretical evidence is through bones. Examinations of

early modern human skulls from Central Europe and Australia dated to between 20,000

and 30,000 years old have suggested that both groups apparently exhibit traits seen in

their Middle Eastern and African predecessors. But the early modern specimens from

20) Central Europe also display Neandertal traits, and the early modern Australians showed

affinities to archaic Homo from Indonesia. Meanwhile, the debate among

(

paleoanthropologists continues , as supporters of the two hypotheses challenge the

evidence and conclusions of each other.

81

PRACTICE TEST 62

30. The passage primarily discusses which of the following

(

A) Evidence that supports the “Out of Africa” theory

B) Two hypotheses and some evidence on the human origins debate

C) The difficulties in obtaining agreement among theorists on the human origins debate

D) That fossils remain very much a part of the human origins debate

3

1. The word “emergence” in line 1 is closest in meaning to

(

A) complexity (B) development

(C) appearance

(C) inspectors

(D) decline

2. The word “proponents” in line 6 is closet in meaning to

A) experts (B) advocates

(

(D) historians

3. All of the following are true except

(

A) three methods of gathering evidence are mentioned in the passage

B) the multi-regional model goes back further in history.

C) the Out of Africa model has had more support from scholars

D) DNA studies offer one of the best ways in future to provide clear evidence.

3

4. The word “slim” in line 14 is closest in meaning to

A) small (B) narrow

(

(C) thin

(D) difficult

35. Which of the following is not true

(

A) the vast majority of genetic studies have focused on living populations

B) early modern human skulls all support the same conclusions

C) both hypotheses focus on Africa as a location for the new species.

D) early modern Australian skulls have similarities to those from Indonesia.

36. In line 18, the word “their ” refers to which of the following

(

A) Middle Easterners and Africans

C) central Europeans and Australians

(B) skulls

(D) traits

37. Which of the following is NOT true about the two hypotheses

(

A) Both hypotheses regard Neandertals to be the predecessors of modern humans

B) Genetic studies have supported both hypotheses

C) Both hypotheses cite Africa as an originating location.

D) One hypothesis dates the emergence of homo sapiens much earlier than the other.

38. It can be inferred from the passage that

(

A) there is likely to be an end to the debate in the near future

B) the debate will interest historians to take part in

C) the debate is likely to be less important in future

D) there is little likelihood that the debate will die down.

39. According to the passage, the multi-regional evolution model posits far more diverse roots for our kind

because

(

A) Evidence from examinations of early modern human skulls has come from a number of different

parts of the world.

(

B) DNA from Neandertal appears to support multi-regionalism

C) Populations in different regions were linked through genetic and cultural exchange

D) This has been supported by fossil evidence

82

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

Questions 40-50

Although management principles have been implemented since ancient times,

most management scholars trace the beginning of modern management thought back to

the early 1900s, beginning with the pioneering work of Frederick Taylor (1856-1915)

Line Taylor was the first person to study work scientifically. He is most famous for introducing

(

5)

techniques of time and motion study, differential piece rate systems, and for systematically

specializing the work of operating employees and managers. Along with other pioneers

such as Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, Taylor set the stage, labeling his philosophy and

methods “scientific management‟. At that time, his philosophy, which was concerned with

productivity, but which was often misinterpreted as promoting worker interests at the

(

10) expense of management, was in marked contrast to the prevailing industrial norms of

worker exploitation.

The time and motion study concepts were popularized by Frank and Lillian Gilbreth.

The Gilbreths had 12 children. By analyzing his children‟s dishwashing and bedmaking

chores, this pioneer efficiency expert, Frank Gilbreth, hit on principles whereby workers

15) could eliminate waste motion. He was memorialized by two of his children in their 1949

book called “Cheaper by the Dozen”.

(

The Gilbreth methods included using stop watches to time worker movements and

special tools (cameras and special clocks) to monitor and study worker performance, and

also involved identification of “therbligs” (Gilbreth spelled backwards) – basic motions

20) used in production jobs. Many of these motions and accompanying times have been used

to determine how long it should take a skilled worker to perform a given job. In this way an

industrial engineer can get a handle on the approximate time it should take to produce a

product or provide a service. However, use of work analysis in this way is unlikely to lead

to useful results unless all five work dimensions are considered: physical, psychological,

social, cultural, and power.

40. What is the passage primarily about?

(

A) The limitations of pioneering studies in understanding human behavior

B) How time and motion studies were first developed

C) The first applications of a scientific approach to understanding human behavior

D) The beginnings of modern management theory

41. The word “ which” in line 9 refers to

(

A) scientific management

C) productivity

(B) philosophy

(D) time and motion study

42. It can be inferred from the first paragraph that

(

A) workers welcomed the application of scientific management

B) Talor‟s philosophy is different from the industrial norms

C) by the early 1900s science had reached a stage where it could be applied to the workplace

D) workers were no longer exploited after the introduction of scientific management.

43. The word “prevailing” in line 10 is closest in meaning to

(

A) predominant (B) broadly accepted (C) prevalent

(D) common

83

PRACTICE TEST 62

44. According to the passage, Frank Gilbreth discovered how workers could eliminate waste motion by

(

A) using special tools such as cameras and clocks

B) using stop watches

C) applying scientific management principles

D) watching his children do their chores

4

5. The basic motions used in production jobs were given which one of following names by Frank Gilbreth?

A) dimensions (B) gilreths (C) therbligs (D) monitors

(

46. According to the passage, the time it takes a skilled worker to perform the motion of a given job can be

measured by using:

(

A) stop watches

C) special tools

(B) all five work dimensions

(D) therbligs

4

7. The word “motions” in line 20 is closest in meaning to

A) stop watches (B) habits

(

(C) actions

(D) special tools

48. Where in the passage does the author comment that the principles of scientific management were often

misunderstood?

(

A) Lines 1-5

(B) Lines 6-10

(C) Lines 11-15

(D) Lines 16-20

(D) standards

4

9. The word “ dimensions” in line 24 is closest in meaning to

A) sizes (B) extents (C) aspects

(

50. All of the following are true except

(

A) scientific management was concerned with productivity.

B) the beginnings of modern management thought commenced in the 19th century.

C) Frank Gilbreth‟s fame was enhanced by two of his children writing a book.

D) analyzing work to increase productivity is not likely to be useful unless all of the dimensions are

considered.

84

PRACTICE TEST 63

Question 1-10

Mountaineers have noted that as they climb, for example, up to the 12,633-foot

Humphreys Peak in the San Francisco Peaks in Arizona, plant life changes radically.

Starting among the cacti of the Sonoran Desert, one climbs into a pine forest at 7,000 feet

Line and a treeless alpine tundra at the summit. It may seem that plants at a given altitude are

(

5)

associated in what can be called “communities” – groupings of interacting species. The

idea is that over time, plants that require particular climate and soil conditions come to live

in the same places, and hence are frequently to be found together. Scientists who study

the history of plant life are known as paleobotanists, or paleobots for short. They build up

a picture of how groups of plants have responded to climate changes and how

(

10) ecosystems develop. But are these associations, which are real in the present,

permanent?

A great natural experiment took place on this planet between 25,000 and 10,000

years ago, when small changes in the earth‟s orbit and axis of rotation caused great

sheets of ice to spread from the poles. These glaciers covered much of North America and

15) Europe to depths of up to two miles, and then, as the climate warmed, they retreated.

During this retreat, they left behind newly uncovered land for living things to colonize, and

as those living things moved in they laid down a record we can read now. As the ice

retreated and plants started to grow near a lake, they would release pollen. Some would

fall into the lake, sink to the bottom, and be incorporated into the sediment. By drilling into

20) the lake bottom it is possible to read the record of successive plant life around the lake.

The fossil record seems clear; there is little or no evidence that entire groups of plants

moved north together. Things that lived together in the past don‟t live together now, and

things that live together now didn‟t live together in the past. Each individual organism

moved at its own pace. The fossil record seems to be telling us that we should be thinking

25) about preserving species by giving them room to maneuver – to respond to environmental

changes.

(

1. What is the passage mainly about?

(

A) The effects of the ice age on plants

B) Plant migration after the ice age

C) The need to develop a new approach to environmental issues

D) Communities of plants live at different altitudes

2

. The word “radically” in line 2 is closest in meaning to

A) variably (B) demonstrably

(

(C) quickly

(D) dramatically

3. The author mentions “cacti” in line 3 and a ”treeless alpine tundra” in line 4 to illustrate

(

A) changes in climate

(B) the effects of the ice age

(D) plant migration

C) communities of plants

4. The word “which” in line 10 refers to

(

A) the responses of plants to climate changes

B) the current theories of ecosystems

C) the developments of ecosystems

D) plant life changes

5

. The word “axis” in line 12 is closest in meaning to

A) center (B) method

(

(C) change

(D) slowdown

6

. The word “successive” in line 19 is closest in meaning to

A) extinct (B) consecutive (C) accumulative

(

(D) following

85

PRACTICE TEST 63

7

. The passage states that by drilling into the lake bottom it is possible to find successive fossils of

A) sediment (B) ice (C) plant life (D) pollen

(

8. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage

(

A) that the migratory patterns of plants are dependent upon changes in climate

B) that modern conservation methods should consider the migratory patterns of plants

C) that current associations of plants are similar to those in the past

D) that another ice age is likely to occur at some time

9. According to the passage, the movement of individual species of plants

(

A) occurs in groups

(B) often depends upon the formation of lakes

(D) depends upon climate and soil conditions

C) does not occur in groups

10. All of the following are true except

(

A) The ice age occurred when small changes affected the movement of the earth

B) Fossil records seem to indicate that plants will be preserved if they have sufficient room to move

C) Fossil records clearly show that entire groups of plants are unlikely to have moved together

D) In the ice age glaciers covered the world to depths of up to two miles

Question 11-21

Some pioneering work that began as an attempt to discover ways to increase

production efficiency led to the founding of the human relations movement in industry and

to the development of motivational skills and tools for managers. In 1927 researchers

Line were involved in determining the optimum amount of lighting, temperature, and humidity

(

5)

(with lighting being considered the most important) for the assembly of electronic

components at Western Electric. The researchers found that lighting had no consistent

effect on production. In fact, production sometimes increased when lighting was reduced

to the level of ordinary moonlight! The important part of this experiment began when two

Harvard researchers, Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger, were brought in to investigate

(

10) these unexpected results further. They found that workers were responding not to the level

of lighting but to the fact that they were being observed by the experimenters.

This phenomenon came to be known as the Hawthorne effect since the experiments

were conducted at the Western Electric Hawthorne plant. This was the first documented

and widely published evidence of the psychological effects on doing work, and it led to the

15) first serious effort aimed at examining psychological and social factors in the workplace.

Further experiments were continued for five years. Generally, the researchers concluded

from their experiments that economic motivation (pay) was not the sole source of

productivity and, in some cases, not even the most important source. Through interviews

and test results, the researchers focused on the effects of work attitudes, supervision, and

20) the peer group and other social forces, on productivity.

(

Their findings laid the groundwork for modern motivation theory, and the study of

human factors on the job, which continues to this day in such common practices as

selection and training, establishing favorable work conditions, counseling, and personnel

operations. The contributions of this experiment shifted the focus of human motivation

25) from economics to a multifaceted approach including psychological and social forces.

(

86

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

11. What is the passage primarily about?

(

A) The first widely published development in modern motivation theory

B) Shifting the focus of human motivation from economics to a multifaceted approach

C) The importance of careful research

D) The results of a pioneering study at Western Electric

1

2. The word “optimum” in line 4 is closest in meaning to

A) positive (B) favorable

(

(C) best

(D) alternate

13. The most significant finding of the original research was

(

A) lighting had no consistent effect on production

B) production sometimes increased when lighting was reduced to the level of ordinary moonlight.

C) that lighting was no more important than the other factors of temperature and humidity.

D) the results were unexpected and confusing.

14. Why does the author say that the important part of this research began when two Harvard researchers

were brought in (lines 8-9)

(

A) Until then the research had been poorly conducted

B) They took a multifaceted approach

C) The results of the original research did not make sense

D) Harvard has a good reputation in conducting research

15. The research became known as the “Hawthorne effect” because

(

A) it was the name of the plant where the study was conducted

B) It was the name suggested by the Harvard researchers

C) It was the name of the principal experimenter

D) There were Hawthorne plants growing at Western Electric where the study was conducted

16. The word “it” in line 14 refers to

(

A) the experiment

(B) economic motivation

(D) the Hawthorne effect

C) the Western Electric Hawthorn plant

17. It can be inferred from this passage that the Hawthorne study

(

A) led to lighting, temperature, and humidity no longer being considered important when seeking

ways to improve production

(

B) Stimulated further research into work condition and worker behavior

C) Led to psychological factors becoming the most important consideration in achieving production

efficiency

(

D) Led to economic considerations being less important in achieving productivity

18. Part of the reason for the change in focus from economics to a more multifaceted approach to the

psychological effects on doing work was

(

A) due to the recognition that workers should be happy at work in order to maintain high productivity

B) a general conclusion that pay was sometimes not the most important factor

C) because the Hawthorne study continued for so long

D) because the workers requested it

19. According to the passage, it can be concluded that a “multifaceted approach” to human motivation in the

workplace

(

A) excludes economics

B) can lead to greater productivity

C) excludes physical conditions

D) focuses mainly on psychological and social forces

87

PRACTICE TEST 63

2

0. The word “multifaceted” in line 25 is closest in meaning to

A) versatile (B) complex (C) many-sided

(

(D) multitude

21. Which of the following is NOT true about the Hawthorne study

(

A) It was the first documented evidence of the psychological effects on doing work

B) The Hawthorne study continued for five years

C) They found that workers responded not to the level of lighting but to the fact that other work

conditions were not favorable

(

D) The study changed the focus from economics to a multifaceted approach

Question 22-31

The handling and delivery of mail has always been a serious business, underpinned

by the trust of the public in requiring timeliness, safety, and confidentiality. After early

beginnings using horseback and stagecoach, and although cars and trucks later replaced

Line stagecoaches and wagons, the Railway Mail Service still stands as one of America‟s most

(

5)

resourceful and exciting postal innovations. This service began in 1832, but grew slowly

until the Civil War. Then from 1862, by sorting the mail on board moving trains, the Post

Office Department was able to decentralize its operations as railroads began to crisscross

the nation on a regular basis, and speed up mail delivery. This service lasted until 1974.

During peak decades of service, railway mail clerks handled 93% of all non-local mail and

(

10) by 1905 the service had over 12,000 employees.

Railway Post Office trains used a system of mail cranes to exchange mail at

stations without stopping. As a train approached the crane, a clerk prepared the catcher

arm which would then snatch the incoming mailbag in the blink of an eye. The clerk then

booted out the outgoing mailbag. Experienced clerks were considered the elite of the

15) Postal Service‟s employees, and spoke with pride of making the switch at night with

nothing but the curves and feel of the track to warn them of an upcoming catch. They also

worked under the greatest pressure and their jobs were considered to be exhausting and

dangerous. In addition to regular demands of their jobs they could find themselves the

victims of train wrecks and robberies.

(

20)

As successful as it was, “mail-on-the-fly” still had its share of glitches. If they hoisted

the train‟s catcher arm too soon, they risked hitting switch targets, telegraph poles or

semaphores, which would rip the catcher arm off the train. Too late, and they would miss

an exchange.

22. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(

A) How Post Office Trains handled the mail without stopping

B) The skills of experienced clerks

C) How the mail cranes exchanged the mail

D) Improvements in mail handling and delivery

2

3. The word “underpinned” in line 1 is closest in meaning to

(

A) lowered (B) underlain (C) obliged

(D) required

4. The public expects the following three services in handling and delivery of mail except

(

A) confidentiality

(B) timeliness

(C) safety

(D) accuracy

5. According to the passage, the Railway Mail Service commenced in

A) 1832 (B) 1842 (C) 1874

(

(D) 1905

88

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

26. Which of the following can be inferred from the first paragraph

(

A) Mail was often lost or damaged as it was exchanged on the mail crane

B) There was a high turnover of railway mail clerks

C) The development of the mailroads during the second half of the 19th century enabled Post Office

Department to focus on timeliness

(

D) The Post Office Department was more concerned about speeding up mail delivery than the safety

of its clerks

2

7. The word “elite” in line14 is closest in meaning to

A) superior (B) majority

(

(C) more capable

(D) leader

28. Which of the following is true, according to the passage

(

A) The clerk booted out the outgoing mailbag before snatching the incoming bag

B) Clerks couldn‟t often see what they were doing

C) The Railway Mail clerk‟s job was considered elite because it was safe and exciting

D) Despite their success railway mail clerks only handled a small proportion of all non-local mail

29. In line 18, the word “they” refers to

(

A) trains

(B) Postal Service‟s employees

C) Mailbags

(D) Experience clerks

3

0. The word “glitches” in line 20 can be replaced by

A) accidents (B) blames

(

(C) advantages

(D) problems

3

1. Where in the passage does the author first mention the dangers of the Post Office clerk‟s job?

A) Lines 5-9 (B) Lines 10-14 (C) Lines 15-19 (D) Lines 20-23

(

Questions 32-40

Amelia Earhart was born in Kansas in 1897. Thirty one years later, she received a

phone call that would change her life. She was invited to become the first woman

passenger to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a plane. The flight took more than 20 hours –

Line about three times longer than it routinely takes today to cross the Atlantic by plane.

(

5)

Earhart was twelve years old before she ever saw an airplane, and she didn‟t take her first

flight until 1920. But she was so thrilled by her first experience in a plane that she quickly

began to take flying lessons. She wrote, “As soon as I left the ground, I knew I myself had

to fly.”

After that flight Earhart became a media sensation. She was given a ticker tape

10) parade down Broadway in New York and even President Coolidge called to congratulate

her. Because her record-breaking career and physical appearance were similar to

pioneering pilot and American hero Charles Lindbergh, she earned the nickname “Lady

Lindy.” She wrote a book about her flight across the Atlantic, called 20 Hrs., 40 Min.

Earhart continued to break records, and also polished her skills as a speaker and

15) writer, always advocating women‟s achievements, especially in aviation. Her next goal

was to achieve a transatlantic crossing alone. In 1927 Charles Lindbergh became the first

person to make a solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic. Five years later, Earhart became

the first woman to repeat that feat. Her popularity grew even more and she was the

undisputed queen of the air. She then wanted to fly around the world, and in June 1937

89

PRACTICE TEST 63

(

20) she left Miami with Fred Noonan as her navigator. No one knows why she left behind

important communication and navigation instruments. Perhaps it was to make room for

additional fuel for the long flight. The pair made it to New Guinea in 21 days and then left

for Howland Island, a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The last

communication from Earhart and Noonan was on July 2, 1937 with a nearby Coast Guard

25) ship. The United States Navy conducted a massive search for more than two weeks but

no trace of the plane or its passengers was ever found. Many people believe they got lost

and simply ran out of fuel and died.

(

32. With which of the following subjects is the passage mainly concerned?

(

A) The history of aviation

(B) The tragic death of the queen of air

C) Achievements of early aviation pioneers

(D) The achievements of a pioneering aviatrix

33. According to the passage, which of the following statements about Earhart is NOT true?

(

A) She wrote a book about her solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic, called 20 Hrs., 40 Min.

B) In her last adventure, she didn‟t take communication and navigation instruments by accident, and

that led to the tragedy.

(

C) She is regarded as the female Chare Lindbergh in aviation.

D) She was in her late twenties when she took her first flight.

34. According to the passage, when did Amelia Earhart began her first flight

(

A) when she was 12 years old

(B) 1920

C) when she first saw an airplane

(D) when she started to take flying lessons.

3

5. The word “sensation” in line 8 is closest in meaning to

A) feeling (B) hit

(

(C) excitement

(D) perception

36. Amelia Earhart was called “Lady Lindy” because

(

A) she was the undisputed queen of the air.

B) President Coolidge gave her the nickname.

C) she repeated Charles Lindbergh‟s feat.

D) of her career and her physical resemblance to Lindbergh

3

4

7. The word “undisputed” in line18 is closest in meaning to

(

A) contemporary (B) undeceived

(C) dissipated

(C) the reason

(C) large

(D) undoubted

(D) aviation.

(D) careful

8. The word “it” in line 20 refers to

A) plane (B) communication

(

9. The word “massive” in line 25 is closest in meaning to

A) substantial (B) general

(

0. It may be inferred from the passage that Amelia Earhart

(

A) would not have developed her love of flying if she had not been invited to become the first woman

passenger to cross the Atlantic in a plane.

(

B) Would have continued to seek new adventures and records to break if she had not died at the age

of 39.

(

C) became too confident and took too many risks to be able to live to old age.

D) did not want to return to the United States.

90

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

Question 41-50

Music can bring us to tears or to our feet, drive us into battle or lull us to sleep.

Music is indeed remarkable in its power over all humankind, and perhaps for that very

reason, no human culture on earth has ever lived without it. From discoveries made in

Line France and Slovenia even Neanderthal man, as long as 53,000 years ago, had developed

(

5)

surprisingly sophisticated, sweet-sounding flutes carved from animal bones. It is perhaps

then, no accident that music should strike such a chord with the limbic system – an

ancient part of our brain, evolutionarily speaking, and one that we share with much of the

animal kingdom. Some researchers even propose that music came into this world long

before the human race ever did. For example, the fact that whale and human music have

(

10) so much in common even though our evolutionary paths have not intersected for nearly 60

million years suggests that music may predate humans. They assert that rather than being

the inventors of music, we are latecomers to the musical scene.

Humpback whale composers employ many of the same tricks that human

songwriters do. In addition to using similar rhythms, humpbacks keep musical phrases to a

15) few seconds, creating themes out of several phrases before singing the next one. Whale

songs in general are no longer than symphony movements, perhaps because they have a

similar attention span. Even though they can sing over a range of seven octaves, the

whales typically sing in key, spreading adjacent notes no farther apart than a scale. They

mix percussive and pure tones in pretty much the same ratios as human composers – and

20) follow their ABA form, in which a theme is presented, elaborated on and then revisited in a

slightly modified form. Perhaps most amazing, humpback whale songs include repeating

refrains that rhyme. It has been suggested that whales might use rhymes for exactly the

same reasons that we do: as devices to help them remember. Whale songs can also be

rather catchy. When a few humpbacks from the Indian Ocean strayed into the Pacific,

25) some of the whales they met there quickly changed their tunes – singing the new whales‟

songs within three short years. Some scientists are even tempted to speculate that a

universal music awaits discovery.

(

41. Why did the author write the passage?

(

A) To describe the music for some animals, including humans

B) To illustrate the importance of music to whales

C) To show that music is not a human or even modern invention

D) To suggest that music is independent of life forms that use it

4

2. The word “sophisticated” in line 5 is closest in meaning to

(

A) complex (B) intricate

(C) well-developed

(C) the right brain

(D) entangled

3. The word “one” in line 7 can be replaced by

A) the chord (B) the left brain

(

(D) the limbic system

4. According to the passage, which of the following is true of humpback whales

(

A) their tunes are distinctively different from human tunes

B) they can sing over a range of seven octaves

C) they do not use rhyme, unlike humans

91

PRACTICE TEST 63

(

D) whale songs of a particular group cannot be learned by other whales

45. The word “they” in line 18 refers to

(

A) human composers

C) octaves

(B) whole songs

(D) whales

46. Which of the following is NOT true about humpback whale music?

(

A) It uses similar patterns to human songs

B) It‟s comparative in length to symphony movements

C) It‟s easy to learn by other whales

D) It‟s in a form of creating a theme, elaborating and revisiting in rhyming refrains

4

7. The word “refrains” in line 22 is closest in meaning to

A) tunes (B) notes

(

(C) musical phrases

(D) sounds

48. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

(

A) The earliest human beings came from France and Slovenia

B) Music helped to shape the whale brain

C) Humpback whales imitate the way human composers so in creating their own music

D) The research of musical brain will lead to a discovery of a universal music

49. Where in the passage does the author first mention whales?

(

A) Lines 5-9

(B) Lines 10-14

(D) Lines 20-24

C) Lines 15-19

50. The word „their‟ in line 25 refers to

(

A) Indian Ocean humpbacks

C) all whales

(B) Pacific Ocean humpbacks

(D) whale songs

92

PRACTICE TEST 64

Questions 1-11

Jazz has been called “the art of expression set to music”, and “America‟s great

contribution to music”. It has functioned as popular art and enjoyed periods of fairly

widespread public response, in the “jazz age” of the 1920s, in the “swing era” of the late

Line 1930s and in the peak popularity of modern jazz in the late 1950s. The standard legend

(

5)

about Jazz is that it originated around the end of the 19th century in New Orleans and

moved up the Mississippi River to Memphis, St. Louis, and finally to Chicago. It welded

together the elements of Ragtime, marching band music, and the Blues. However, the

influences of what led to those early sounds goes back to tribal African drum beats and

European musical structures. Buddy Bolden, a New Orleans barber and cornet player, is

(

10) generally considered to have been the first real Jazz musician, around 1891.

What made Jazz significantly different from the other earlier forms of music was

the use of improvisation. Jazz displayed a break from traditional music where a composer

wrote an entire piece of music on paper, leaving the musicians to break their backs

playing exactly what was written on the score. In a Jazz piece, however, the song is

15) simply a starting point, or sort of skeletal guide for the Jazz musicians to improvise

around. Actually, many of the early Jazz musicians were bad sight readers and some

couldn‟t even read music at all. Generally speaking, these early musicians couldn‟t make

very much money and were stuck working menial jobs to make a living. The second wave

of New Orleans Jazz musicians included such memorable players as Joe Oliver, Kid Ory,

20) and Jelly Roll Morton. These men formed small bands and took the music of earlier

musicians, improved its complexity, and gained greater success. This music is known as

(

“

hot Jazz” due to the enormously fast speeds and rhythmic drive.

A young cornet player by the name of Louis Armstrong was discovered by Joe

Oliver in New Orleans. He soon grew up to become one of the greatest and most

25) successful musicians of all time, and later one of the biggest stars in the world. The impact

of Armstrong and other talented early Jazz musicians changed the way we look at music.

(

1. The Passage answers which of the following questions?

(

A) Why did Ragtime, marching band music, and the Blues lose popularity after about 1900?

B) What were the origins of Jazz and how did it differ from other forms of music?

C) What has been the greatest contribution of cornet players to music in the twentieth century?

D) Which early Jazz musicians most influenced the development of Blues music?

2. According to the passage, Jazz originated in

(

A) Chicago

(B) St. Louis

C) along the Mississippi river

(D) New Orleans

3

. The word “welded” in line 6 is closest in meaning to

A) squeezed (B) bound

(

(C) added

(D) stirred

4. Which of the following distinguished Jazz as a new form of musical expression?

(

A) the use of cornets

C) improvisation

(B) “hot Jazz”

(D) New Orleans

5. The word “skeletal” in line 15 is closest in meaning to

(

A) framework (B) musical

(C) basic

(D) essential

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PRACTICE TEST 64

6. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

(

A) many early Jazz musicians had poor sight

B) there is no slow music in Jazz

C) many early Jazz musicians had little formal musical training

D) the cornet is the most common musical instrument used in Jazz

7

. The word “menial” in line 18 is closest in meaning to

A) mens (B) attractive

(

(C) degrading

(D) skilled

8. According to the passage, which of the following belonged to the second wave of New Orleans Jazz

musicians?

(

A) Louis Armstrong

(B) Buddy Bolden

(C) St. Louis

(D) Joe Oliver

9. All of the following are true EXCEPT

(

A) the late 1930s was called the “swing era”

B) “hot Jazz” is rhythmic

C) Jazz has been said to be America‟s greatest contribution to music

D) Joe Oliver is generally considered to be the first real Jazz musician

1

0. The word “its” in line 21 refers to

A) small bands (B) earlier music

(

(C) men

(D) earlier musicians

11. Which of the following terms is defined in the passage?

(

A) “improvisation” (line 12)

C) “composer” (line 12)

(B) “traditional” (line 12)

(D) “score” (line 14)

Questions 12-21

The Moon has been worshipped by primitive peoples and has inspired humans to

create everything from lunar calendars to love sonnets, but what do we really know about

it? The most accepted theory about the origin of the Moon is that it was formed of the

Line debris from a massive collision with the young Earth about 4.6 billion years ago. A huge

(

5)

body, perhaps the size of Mars, struck the Earth, throwing out an immense amount of

debris that coalesced and cooled in orbit around the Earth.

The development of Earth is inextricably linked to the moon; the Moon‟s

gravitational influence upon the Earth is the primary cause of ocean tides. In fact, the

Moon has more than twice the effect upon the tides than does the Sun. The Moon makes

(

10) one rotation and completes a revolution around the Earth every 27 days, 7 hours, and 43

minutes. This synchronous rotation is caused by an uneven distribution of mass in the

Moon (essentially, it is heavier on one side than the other) and has allowed the Earth‟s

gravity to keep one side of the Moon permanently facing Earth. It is an average distance

from Earth of 384,403 km.

(

15)

The Moon has no atmosphere; without an atmosphere, the Moon has nothing to

protect it from meteorite impacts, and thus the surface of the Moon is covered with impact

craters, both large and small. The Moon also has no active tectonic or volcanic activity, so

the erosive effects of atmospheric weathering, tectonic shifts, and volcanic upheavals that

tend to erase and reform the Earth‟s surface features are not at work on the Moon. In fact,

20) even tiny surface features such as the footprint left by an astronaut in the lunar soil are

likely to last for millions of years, unless obliterated by a chance meteorite strike. The

surface gravity of the Moon is about one-sixth that of the Earth‟s. Therefore, a man

weighing 82 kilograms on Earth would only weigh 14 kilograms on the Moon.

The geographical features of the Earth most like that of the Moon are, in fact, places such

94

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

(

25) as the Hawaiian volcanic craters and the huge meteor crater in Arizona. The climate of the

Moon is very unlike either Hawaii or Arizona, however; in fact the temperature on the

Moon ranges between 123 degrees C. to –233 degrees C.

12. What is the passage primarily about?

(

A) the Moon‟s effect upon the Earth

B) the origin of the Moon

C) what we know about the Moon and its differences to Earth

D) a comparison of the Moon and the Earth

1

3. The word “massive” in line 4 is closest in meaning to

(

A) unavoidable (B) dense

(C) huge

(D) impressive

(D) earth

4. The word “debris” in line 5 is closest in meaning to

A) rubbish (B) satellites

(

(C) moons

5. According to the passage, the Moon is

(

A) older than the Earth

(B) protected by a dense atmosphere

C) composed of a few active volcanoes

(D) the primary cause of Earth‟s ocean tides

16. The word “uneven “ in line 11 is closest in meaning to

(

A) Heavier

C) Orderly

(B) Equally distributed

(D) Not uniform

17. Why does the author mention “impact craters” in line 16?

(

A) to show the result of the Moon not having an atmosphere

B) to show the result of the Moon not having active tectonic or volcanic activity

C) to explain why the Moon has no plant life because of meteorites

D) to explain the corrosive effects of atmospheric weathering

1

8. The word “erase” in line 19 is closest in meaning to

A) change (B) impact

(

(C) obliterate

(D) erupt

19. A person on the Moon would weigh less than on the Earth because

(

A) of the composition of lunar soil

B) the surface gravity of the Moon is less

C) the Moon has no atmosphere

D) the Moon has no active tectonic or volcanic activity

20. All of the following are true about the Moon EXCEPT

(

A) it has a wide range of temperatures

B) it is heavier on one side than the other

C) it is unable to protect itself from meteorite attacks

D) it has less effect upon the tides than the Sun

21. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

(

A) the Moon is not able to support human life

B) if the Moon had no gravitational influence, the Earth would not have tides

C) people living in Hawaii and Arizona would feel at home on the Moon

D) Mars could have been formed in a similar way to the Moon

95

PRACTICE TEST 64

Questions 22-31

People of Hispanic origin were on the North American continent centuries before

settlers arrived from Europe in the early 1600s and the thirteen colonies joined together to

form the United States in the late 1700s. The first census of the new nation was conducted

Line in 1790, and counted about four million people, most of whom were white. Of the white

(

5)

citizens, more than 80% traced their ancestry back to England. There were close to

00,000 slaves and about 60,000 “free Negroes”. Only a few Native American Indians who

7

paid taxes were included in the census count, but the total Native American population

was probably about one million.

By 1815, the population of the United States was 8.4 million. Over the next 100

10) years, the country took in about 35 million immigrants, with the greatest numbers coming

in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In 1882, 40,000 Chinese arrived, and between 1900

and 1907, there were more than 30,000 Japanese immigrants. But by far, the largest

numbers of the new immigrants were from central, eastern, and southern Europe.

An enormous amount of racial and ethnic assimilation has taken place in the United

15) States. In 1908, play-write Israel Zangwill first used the term “melting pot” to describe the

concept of a place where many races melted in a crucible and re-formed to populate a

new land. Some years during the first two decades of the 20th century, there were as

many as one million new immigrants per year, an astonishing 1 percent of the total

population of the United States.

(

20)

In 1921, however, the country began to limit immigration, and the Immigration Act of

924 virtually closed the door. The total number of immigrants admitted per year dropped

1

from as many as a million to only 150,000. A quota system was established that specified

the number of immigrants that could come from each country. It heavily favored

immigrants from northern and western Europe and severely limited everyone else. This

25) system remained in effect until 1965, although after World War II, several exceptions were

made to the quota system to allow in groups of refugees.

22. Why did the author write the passage?

(

A) to outline the ways immigration has been restricted

B) to emphasize the impact of migrants from Europe

C) to explain and give examples of the concept of a “melting pot”

D) to summarize the main features of immigration

2

3. According to the passage, which ancestry predominated at the time of the first census?

(

A) Native Americans

(B) Negroes

(C) English

(C) color

(D) Hispanic

4. The word “ancestry” in line 5 is closest in meaning to

A) origins (B) inheritance

(

(D) freedom

5. The word “their” in line 5 refers to which of the following

(

A) immigrants

(B) people of Hispanic origin

(D) Native Americans

C) white citizens

26. Which of the following is true, according to the passage?

(

A) a quota system was in place from 1908

B) a peak period of immigration was in the late 1800s and early 1900s

C) slaves were not counted in the first census

96

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

(

D) only those who paid taxes were included in the first census

27. The number of immigrants taken in over the 100 years to 1915 was

(

A) probably about 1 million

C) 8.4 million

(B) about 35 million

(D) about 4 million

(C) complexity

(C) thoroughly

2

3

8. The word “concept” in line 16 is closest in meaning to

(

A) location (B) type

(D) thought

9. The word “virtually” in line 21 is closest in meaning to

A) effectively (B) occasionally

(

(D) undeservedly

0. Which of the following is NOT true about immigrants

(

A) they were subjected to an official quota in the Immigration Act from 1924

B) during the 1900s immigrants numbered 1 percent of the total population

C) settlers of Hispanic origin arrived centuries before those from Europe

D) numbers began to be limited from 1921

31. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage

(

A) preserving a developing “American” culture was a major factor leading to the introduction of the

quota system

(

B) racial and ethnic assimilation did not occur as planned

C) racial and ethnic tensions would have increased if the quota system had not been introduced

D) the quota system was introduced to limit population growth

Questions 32-40

Considered the most influential architect of his time, Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-

959) was born in the small rural community of Richland Center, Wisconsin. He entered

1

the University of Wisconsin at the age of 15 as a special student, studying engineering

Line because the school had no course in architecture. At the age of 20 he then went to work

(

5)

as a draughtsman in Chicago in order to learn the traditional, classical language of

architecture. After marrying into a wealthy business family at the age of 21, Wright set up

house in an exclusive neighborhood in Chicago, and after a few years of working for a

number of architectural firms, set up his own architectural office.

For twenty years he brought up a family of six children upstairs, and ran a thriving

(

10) architectural practice of twelve or so draughtsmen downstairs. Here, in an idyllic American

suburb, with giant oaks, sprawling lawns, and no fences, Wright built some sixty rambling

homes by the year 1900. He became the leader of a style known as the “Prairie” school -

houses with low-pitched roofs and extended lines that blended into the landscape and

typified his style of “organic architecture”.

(

15)

By the age of forty-one, in 1908, Wright had achieved extraordinary social and

professional success. He gave countless lectures at major universities, and started his

Taliesin Fellowship – a visionary social workshop in itself. In 1938 he appeared on the

cover of Time magazine, and later, on a two cent stamp. The most spectacular buildings

of his mature period were based on forms borrowed from nature, and the intentions were

20) clearly romantic, poetic, and intensely personal. Examples of these buildings are Tokyo‟s

Imperial Hotel (1915-22: demolished 1968), and New York City‟s Guggenheim Museum

(

completed 1959) He continued working until his death in 1959, at the age of 92, although

in his later years, he spent as much time giving interviews and being a celebrity, as he did

97

PRACTICE TEST 64

in designing buildings. Wright can be considered an essentially idiosyncratic architect

whose influence was immense but whose pupils were few.

32. With which of the following subjects is the passage mainly concerned?

(

A) the development of modern architecture in America

B) the contributions of the “Prairie” School to modern architecture

C) the life and achievements of a famous architect

D) the influence of the style of “organic architecture” in America

33. Frank Lloyd Wright first worked as a draughtsman because

(

A) for twenty years he lived above his shop and employed draughtsmen

B) to learn the language of architecture

C) that is what he studied at the University of Wisconsin

D) that is the work of new employees in architectural firms

3

4. The word “some” in line 11 is closest in meaning to

A) around (B) over

(

(C) nearly

(D) exactly

35. According to the passage, an idyllic American suburb is

(

A) based on forms borrowed from nature

B) blended into the landscape

C) giant oaks, sprawling lawns, and no fences

D) houses with low-pitched reefs and extended lines

3

6. The word “blended” in line 13 is closest in meaning to

A) dug (B) cut

(

(C) imposed

(D) merged

37. The word “itself” in line 17 refers to

(

A) social workshop

C) He

(B) Taliesin Fellowship

(D) Major universities

3

8. The word “idiosyncratic” in line 24 is closest in meaning to

A) idiotic (B) idealistic (C) individualistic

(

(D) independent

39. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

(

A) the Taliesin Fellowship was a grant of money

B) many of Wright‟s architectural ideas have not been taken up by others

C) Wright used his wife‟s money to set up his own architectural office in an exclusive neighborhood in

Chicago

(

D) Some of Wright‟s most notable buildings have been demolished because they were not popular

40. All of the following about Frank Lloyd Wright are true EXCEPT

(

A) he became the leader of a style known as “organic architecture”

B) he died at the age of 92

C) he commenced university studies at the age of 15

D) some of his most spectacular buildings were not in America

98

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

Questions 41-50

The healing power of maggots is not new. Human beings have discovered it several

times. The Maya are said to have used maggots for therapeutic purposes a thousand

years ago. As early as the sixteenth century, European doctors noticed that soldiers with

Line maggot-infested wounds healed well. More recently, doctors have realized that maggots

(

5)

can be cheaper and more effective than drugs in some respects, and these squirming

larvae have, at times, enjoyed a quiet medical renaissance. The problem may have more

to do with the weak stomachs of those using them than with good science. The modern

heyday of maggot therapy began during World War I, when an American doctor named

William Baer was shocked to notice that two soldiers who had lain on a battlefield for a

(

10) week while their abdominal wounds became infested with thousands of maggots, had

recovered better than wounded men treated in the military hospital. After the war, Baer

proved to the medical establishment that maggots could cure some of the toughest

infections.

In the 1930s hundreds of hospitals used maggot therapy. Maggot therapy requires the

15) right kind of larvae. Only the maggots of blowflies (a family that includes common

bluebottles and greenbottles) will do the job; they devour dead tissue, whether in an open

wound or in a corpse. Some other maggots, on the other hand, such as those of the

screw-worm eat live tissue. They must be avoided. When blowfly eggs hatch in a patient‟s

wound, the maggots eat the dead flesh where gangrene-causing bacteria thrive. They also

20) excrete compounds that are lethal to bacteria they don‟t happen to swallow. Meanwhile,

they ignore live flesh, and in fact, give it a gentle growth-stimulating massage simply by

crawling over it. When they metamorphose into flies, they leave without a trace – although

in the process, they might upset the hospital staff as they squirm around in a live patient.

When sulfa drugs, the first antibiotics, emerged around the time of World War II, maggot

25) therapy quickly faded into obscurity.

(

41. Why did the author write the passage?

(

A) because of the resistance to using the benefits of maggots

B) to demonstrate the important contribution of William Baer

C) to outline the healing power of maggots

D) to explain treatment used before the first antibiotics

4

2. The word “renaissance” in line 6 is closest in meaning to

A) revival (B) resistance (C) support

(

(D) condemnation

43. According to the passage, William Bayer was shocked because

(

A) two soldiers had lain on the battlefield for a week

B) the medical establishment refused to accept his findings

C) the soldiers abdominal wounds had become infested with maggots

D) the soldiers had recovered better than those in a military hospital

44. Which of the following is true, according to the passage?

(

A) sulfa drugs have been developed from maggots

B) maggots only eat dead tissue

C) bluebottles and greenbottles produce maggots

99

PRACTICE TEST 64

(

D) blowfly maggots only eat dead tissue

4

5. The word “devour” in line 16 is closest in meaning to

(

A) chew

(B) clean

(C) change

(C) move

(D) consume

(D) grow

6. The word “thrive” in line 19 is closest in meaning to

A) prosper (B) eat

(

7. The word “metamorphose” in line 22 is closest in meaning to

(

A) disappear

(B) grow

(C) change

(D) move

8. The word “they” in line 23 refers to

(

A) flies

(B) maggots

C) gangrene-causing bacteria

(D) live patients

49. All of the following are true EXCEPT

(

A) maggots come from eggs

B) maggots eat bacteria

C) maggots are larvae

D) William Bayer discovered a new type of maggot

50. What can be inferred from the passage about maggots?

(

A) modern science might be able to develop new drugs from maggots that would fight infection

B) maggot therapy would have been more popular if antibiotics had not been discovered

C) William Baer later changed his mind about the value of using maggot therapy

D) sulfa drugs were developed from maggots

100

PRACTICE TEST 65

Questions 1-10

Baseball evolved from a number of different ball-and-stick games (paddle ball, trap

ball, one-old-cat, rounders, and town ball) originating in England. As early as the American

Revolution, it was noted that troops played “base ball” in their free time. In 1845 Alexander

Line Cartwright formalized the New York Knickerbockers‟ version of the game: a diamond

(

5)

shaped infield, with bases ninety feet apart, three strikes-you‟re-out, batter out on a caught

ball, three outs per inning, a nine man team. The “New York Game” spread rapidly,

replacing earlier localized forms. From its beginnings, baseball was seen as a way of

satisfying the recreational needs of an increasingly urban-industrial society. At its inception

it was played by and for wealthy gentlemen. A club might consist of 40 members. The

(

10) president would appoint two captains who would choose teams from among the members.

Games were played on Monday and Thursday afternoons, with the losers often providing

a lavish evening‟s entertainment for the winners.

During the 1850-70 period the game was changing, however, with increasing

commercialism (charging admission), under-the-table payments to exceptional players,

15) and gambling on the outcome of games. By 1868 it was said that a club would have their

regular professional ten, an amateur first-nine, and their “muffins” (the gentlemanly duffers

who once ran the game) Beginning with the first openly all-salaried team (Cincinnati‟s Red

Stocking Club) in 1869, the 1870-1890 period saw the complete professionalization of

baseball, including formation of the National Association of Professional Baseball Players

20) in 1871. The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs was formed in 1876, run by

business-minded investors in joint-stock company clubs. The 1880s has been called Major

League Baseball‟s “Golden Age”. Profits soared, player‟s salaries rose somewhat, a

season of 84 games became one of 132, a weekly periodical “The Sporting News” came

into being, wooden stadiums with double-deck stands replaced open fields, and the

25) standard refreshment became hot dogs, soda pop and peanuts. In 1900 the Western

League based in the growing cities of the Midwest proclaimed itself the American League.

(

1. What is the passage mainly about?

(

A) the origins of baseball

B) the commercialization of baseball

C) the influence of the “New York Game” on baseball

D) the development of baseball in the nineteenth century

2. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

(

A) the wealthy gentlemen who first played baseball, later needed to find another recreational

opportunity if they did not want to mix with others or become a “muffin”

B) hot dogs would not have become as popular as they did, without the professionalism and

commercialism that developed in baseball

(

C) the “New York Game” spread rapidly because it was better formalized

D) business-minded investors were only interested in profits

3

. The word “inception” in line 9 is closest in meaning to

A) requirements (B) beginning

(

(C) insistence

(C) grand

(D) rules

4

. The word “lavish” in line 12 is closest in meaning to

A) prolonged (B) very generous

(

(D) extensive

101

PRACTICE TEST 65

5. Which of the following is true of the way the game was played by wealthy gentlemen at its inception

(

A) a team might consist of 40 members

B) the president would choose teams from among the members

C) they didn‟t play on weekends

D) they might be called “duffers” if they didn‟t make the first nine

6. According to the second paragraph, all of the following are true except

(

A) commercialism became more prosperous

C) outstanding players got extra income

(B) the clubs are smaller

(D) people gamed on the outcome of games

7. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a feature of the 1880s “Golden Age”?

(

A) wooden stadiums replaced open fields

B) a weekly periodical commenced

C) the National Association of Professional Baseball Players was formed

D) profits soared

8

9

1

. The word “somewhat” in line 24 is closest in meaning to

(

A) to a significant extent

C) to not the same extent

(B) to a minor extent

(D) to some extent

. The word “itself” in line 28 refers to

(

A) the Western League

C) the Midwest

(B) growing cities

(D) the American League

0. Where in the passage does the author first mention payments to players

(

A) lines 5-9

(B) lines 10-14

(D) lines 20-25

C) lines 15-19

Questions 11-20

Philosophy in the second half of the 19th century was based more on biology and

history than on mathematics and physics. Revolutionary thought drifted away from

metaphysics and epistemology and shifted more towards ideologies in science, politics,

Line and sociology. Pragmatism became the most vigorous school of thought in American

(

5)

philosophy during this time, and it continued the empiricist tradition of grounding

knowledge on experience and stressing the inductive procedures of experimental science.

The three most important pragmatists of this period were the American philosophers

Charles Peirce (1839-1914), considered to be the first of the American pragmatists,

William James (1842-1910), the first great American psychologist, and John Dewey (1859-

(

10) 1952), who further developed the pragmatic principles of Peirce and James into a

comprehensive system of thought that he called “experimental naturalism”, or

“

instrumentalism”.

Pragmatism was generally critical of traditional western philosophy, especially the

notion that there are absolute truths and absolute values. In contrast, Josiah Royce (1855-

15) 1916), was a leading American exponent of idealism at this time, who believed in an

absolute truth and held that human thought and the external world were unified.

(

Pragmatism called for ideas and theories to be tested in practice, assessing whether they

produced desirable or undesirable results. Although pragmatism was popular for a time in

Europe, most agree that it epitomized the American faith in know-how and practicality, and

20) the equally American distrust of abstract theories and ideologies. Pragmatism is best

understood in its historical and cultural context. It arose during a period of rapid scientific

advancement, industrialization, and material progress; a time when the theory of evolution

suggested to many thinkers that humanity and society are in a perpetual state of progress.

102

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

This period also saw a decline in traditional religious beliefs and values. As a result, it

(

25) became necessary to rethink fundamental ideas about values, religion, science,

community, and individuality. Pragmatists regarded all theories and institutions as

tentative hypotheses and solutions. According to their critics, the pragmatist‟s refusal to

affirm any absolutes carried negative implications for society, challenging the foundations

of society‟s institutions.

1

1. What is this passage primarily about?

(

A) the evolution of philosophy in the second half of the 19th century

B) the three most important American pragmatists of the late 19th century

C) the differences between pragmatism and traditional western philosophy

D) American pragmatism

2. Which of the following is true

(

A) idealism was an important part of the pragmatic approach

B) “pragmatism” was also known as “traditional western philosophy”

C) pragmatism continued the empiricist tradition

D) pragmatism is best understood independently of its historical and cultural context

3. Which of the following is true, according to the passage

(

A) absolute truths and values are notions in western traditional philosophy

B) John Dewey was the first great American psychologist

C) the empiricist tradition is part of traditional western philosophy

D) revolutionary thought was not pragmatic

4. The phrase “at this time” in line 14 refers to

(

A) at the time traditional western philosophy was dominant in America

B) at the time pragmatism was popular in Europe

C) 1855-1916

D) the second half of the 19th century

5. According to the passage, pragmatism was more popular in America than Europe because

(

A) Americans had greater acceptance of the theory of evolution

B) it epitomized the American faith in know-how and practicality

C) Europe had a more traditional society based on a much longer history

D) industrialization and material progress was occurring at a faster pace in America at that time

1

6. The word “ abstract” in line 19 is closest in meaning to

(

A) unclear (B) not concrete (C) new

(D) old

7. The word “perpetual” in line 22 is closest in meaning to

A) challenging (B) continuous (C) declining

(

(D) secular

(D) threatening

8. The word “fundamental” in line 24 is closest in meaning to

A) new (B) personal (C) essential

(

9. All of the following are true EXCEPT

(

A) revolutionary thought shifted more towards ideologies in science, politics and sociology

B) pragmatists regarded all theories and institutions as tentative hypotheses and solutions

C) Josiah Royce was not a pragmatist

D) pragmatism was based on the theory of evolution

20. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

(

A) Josiah Royce considered Charles Peirce to be challenging the foundations of society‟s institutions

B) Charles Peirce considered Josiah Royce to be too influenced by the theory of evolution

103

PRACTICE TEST 65

(

C) John Dewey would not have developed his system of thought called “experimental naturalism” or

instrumentalism” without the pioneering work of Charles Peirce and William James

D) Josiah Royce was a revolutionary thinker

“

Questions 21-30

The human criterion for perfect vision is 20/20 for reading the standard lines on a

Snellen eye chart without a hitch. The score is determined by how well you read lines of

letters of different sizes from 20 feet away. But being able to read the bottom line on the

Line eye chart does not approximate perfection as far as other species are concerned. Most

(

5)

birds would consider us very visually handicapped. The hawk, for instance, has such

sharp eyes that it can spot a dime on the sidewalk while perched on top of the Empire

State Building. It can make fine visual distinctions because it is blessed with one million

cones per square millimeter in its retina. And in water, humans are farsighted, while the

kingfisher, swooping down to spear fish, can see well in both the air and water because it

10) is endowed with two foveae – areas of the eye, consisting mostly of cones, that provide

visual distinctions. One foveae permits the bird, while in the air, to scan the water below

with one eye at a time. This is called monocular vision. Once it hits the water, the other

fovea joins in, allowing the kingfisher to focus both eyes, like binoculars, on its prey at the

same time. A frog‟s vision is distinguished by its ability to perceive things as a constant

15) motion picture. Known as “bug detectors”, a highly developed set of cells in a frog‟s eyes

responds mainly to moving objects. So, it is said that a frog sitting in a field of dead bugs

wouldn‟t see them as food and would starve.

The bee has a “compound” eye, which is used for navigation. It has 15,000 facets

that divide what it sees into a pattern of dots, or mosaic. With this kind of vision, the bee

20) sees the sun only as a single dot, a constant point of reference. Thus, the eye is a superb

navigational instrument that constantly measures the angle of its line of flight in relation to

the sun. A bee‟s eye also gauges flight speed. And if that is not enough to leave our 20/20

(

“

perfect vision” paling into insignificance, the bee is capable of seeing something we can‟t

ultraviolet light. Thus, what humans consider to be “perfect vision” is in fact rather limited

–

25) when we look at other species. However, there is still much to be said for the human eye.

Of all the mammals, only humans and some primates can enjoy the pleasures of color

vision.

21. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(

A) limits of the human eye

(B) perfect vision

C) different eyes for different uses

(D) eye variation among different species

2

2. The word “criterion” in line 1 is closest in meaning to

A) standard (B) need

(

(C) expectation

(D) rule

23. The phrase “without a hitch” in line 2 is closest in meaning to

(

A) unaided

(B) without glasses

(D) easily

C) with little hesitation

24. According to the passage, why might birds and animals consider humans very visually handicapped?

(

A) humans can‟t see very well in either air or water

B) human eyes are not as well suited to our needs

C) the main outstanding feature of human eyes is color vision

D) human eyes can‟t do what their eyes can do

25. The word “that” in line 10 refers to

(

A) foveae

C) cones

(B) areas of the eye

(D) visual distinctions

104

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

26. According to the passage, “bug detectors” are useful for

(

A) navigation

(B) seeing moving objects

(D) avoiding starvation

C) avoiding bugs when getting food

27. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true

(

A) kingfishers have monocular vision

B) bees see patterns of dots

C) hawks eyes consist mostly of cones that can allow it to scan with one eye at a time

D) humans are farsighted in water

2

8. Where in the passage does the author discuss that eyes are useful for avoiding starvation?

A) lines 5-9 (B) lines 10-14 (C) lines 15-19 (D) lines 20-25

(

29. The phrase “paling into insignificance” in line 23 is closest in meaning to

(

A) fading away

(B) of less importance

(D) being reduced to little importance

C) without colored light

30. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

(

A) eyes have developed differently in each species

B) bees have the most complex eye

C) humans should not envy what they don‟t need

D) perfect vision is not perfect

Questions 31-39

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and

is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. The first

Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882 in New York City in

Line accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The idea for this day is attributed to

(

5)

a man named McGuire, but there is some controversy about which man named McGuire.

This celebration was repeated the following year, then in 1884, the first Monday in

September was selected, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other

cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a “workingmen‟s holiday” on that

date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was

(

10) celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.

Through the years the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first

government recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and

1886, leading to a movement to secure State legislation. The first bill was introduced into

the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon in 1887.

15) During that year four more States (Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York)

also legislated for Labor Day. By 1894, 23 other States had adopted the holiday, and in

June of that year, Congress passed an Act, making the first Monday in September of each

year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.

(

The form that the observance and celebration should take, was outlined to be a

20) street parade to exhibit to the public “the strength and „esprit de corps‟ of the trade and

labor organizations”, followed by a festival for the recreation and amusement of workers

and their families. By resolution of the American Federation of Labor Convention in 1909,

the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday, and dedicated to the

spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.

105

PRACTICE TEST 65

31. The phrase “this day” in line 4 refers to

(

A) the first Monday in September

C) Tuesday, September 5

(B) Labor Day holiday

(D) the workingman‟s holiday

32. The author implies that which of the following is true?

(

A) Labor Day has lost its importance over the years

B) Labor Day was, in part, a religious festival

C) there is a dispute about who thought of the idea for Labor Day

D) celebrations were usually limited to the industrial centers

3

3. The word “urged” in line 7 is closet in meaning to

(

A) devoted (B) propelled

(C) speeded

(D) satisfied

4. According to the passage, Government recognition for Labor Day was first achieved in

(

A) 1882

(B) 1884

(C) 1885

(D) 1887

5. The word “secure” in line 14 is closest in meaning to

A) gain (B) implement

(

(C) guarantee

(D) pass

6. According to the passage, the first State to pass legislation for Labor Day was

(

A) Columbia

(B) Oregon

(C) New York

(D) Colorado

(D) display

7. The word “ exhibit” in line 21 is closest in meaning to

A) celebrate (B) exemplify

(

(C) demonstrate

8. Which of the following is NOT true

(

A) by 1894, twenty eight States had passed legislation for Labor Day

B) including families was an important part of Labor Day celebrations

C) the first legislative bill was introduced in New York

D) Labor Day has always been held on the first Monday in September

39. The word “preceding” in line 24 is closest in meaning to

(

A) closest to (B) following (C) before

(D) on

Questions 40-50

At the turn of the nineteenth century, Concord was a thriving community, already

famous throughout the young nation for its critical early role in the events leading up to the

American Revolution. It was the half shire town for Middlesex County, attracting over 500

Line visitors to the courts twice a year, among them customers for Concord‟s hats, shoes,

(

5)

carriages and clocks. Among Concord‟s approximately 400 heads of households in this

period, about 65% were in agriculture, 4% in commerce, and 35% in manufacturing. Of

those in manufacturing, seven men headed clockmaking shops and another thirty or so

were engaged in the shops or in businesses that supplied the clockmaking trade – the

brass foundry, iron forge, wire-drawing mill, and a number of cabinetmaking shops. In

(

10) short, the center of Concord, the Milldam, was a machine for the production of clocks,

second only in importance to Boston‟s industrial Roxbury Neck, where the influential

Willard family had been producing clocks since about 1785.

106

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

While the handsome and well-crafted clocks of these seven shops, featuring inlaid

mahogany cases, enameled dials and reverse painted glasses, are generally perceived as

15) products of a traditional clockmaker (one person at a bench fashioning an eight-day clock

from scratch) , they are actually products of a network of shops employing journeymen

labor that extended from Concord to Boston and overseas to the highly developed tool

trade of Lancashire, England.

(

In addition to crafting in the fashionable Willard features such as the pierced

20) fretwork, columns with brass fixtures, and white enamel dial, Concord clockmakers

attempted to differentiate their products from those of the Willards through such means as

a distinctive ornamental inlay, which added to the perception of custom work not usually

seen on the Willard‟s standardized products. The Willards also made less expensive wall

clocks, including “banjo clocks” patented by Simon Willard in 1802. The distinctive

25) diamond shaped design and inverted movement of some Concord wall clocks may reflect

an attempt to circumvent Willard‟s patent.

(

40. What is the passage primarily about?

(

A) clockmaking in Concord at the turn of the nineteenth century

B) Concord at the turn of the nineteenth century

C) Competition between Concord clockmakers and the Willards

D) The influence of the Willards on clockmaking in Concord

4

1. According to the passage, which of the following businesses did NOT supply the clockmaking trade?

(

A) wire-drawing mill

C) iron forge

(B) cabinetmaking shops

(D) glass shops

2. The phrase “in short” in line 10 is closest in meaning to

(

A) generally speaking

C) in conclusion

(B) to sum up

(D) however

3. According to the passage, “the Milldam” was

(

A) where the Willard family had been producing clocks

B) a type of clock

C) in Boston‟s industrial Roxbury Neck

D) in Concord

44. Which of the following terms does the author explain in the passage?

(

A) banjo clocks (line 24)

(B) journeymen labor (line 17)

(D) pierced fretwork (line 20)

C) traditional clockmaker (line 15)

45. Which of the following features is NOT mentioned as a way the Concord clockmakers attempted to

differentiate their products from Willards

(

A) inverted movements

(B) brass fixtures

C) distinctive ornamental inlay

(D) diamond shaped design

4

6. The word “differentiate” in line 21 is closest in meaning to

A) identify (B) distinguish (C) dignify

(

(D) divide

47. The author implies that the Concord clockmakers

(

A) would do anything to try to compete with Willards

B) attempted to customize their products as much as possible

C) were the most important industry in Concord

D) were in danger of being prosecuted for breach of patent

48. The word “inverted” in line 25 is closest in meaning to

107

PRACTICE TEST 65

(

A) intricate

(B) musical

(C) upside down

(D) external

(D) minimize

4

9. The word “circumvent” in line 26 is closest in meaning to

A) copy (B) evade (C) compete with

(

50. Where in the passage does the author mention the features of the well-crafted clocks of Concord?

(

A) lines 5-9

(B) lines 10-14

(D) lines 20-25

C) lines 15-19

108

PRACTICE TEST 66

Questions 1-10

William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), who wrote under the pseudonym of O. Henry,

was born in North Carolina. His only formal education was to attend his Aunt Lina‟s school

until the age of fifteen, where he developed his lifelong love of books. By 1881 he was a

Line licensed pharmacist. However, within a year, on the recommendation of a medical

(

5)

colleague of his Father‟s, Porter moved to La Salle County in Texas for two years herding

sheep. During this time, Webster‟s Unabridged Dictionary was his constant companion,

and Porter gained a knowledge of ranch life that he later incorporated into many of his

short stories. He then moved to Austin for three years, and during this time the first

recorded use of his pseudonym appeared, allegedly derived from his habit of calling “Oh,

(

10) Henry” to a family cat. In 1887, Porter married Athol Estes. He worked as a draftsman,

then as a bank teller for the First National Bank.

In 1894 Porter founded his own humor weekly, the “Rolling Stone”, a venture that

failed within a year, and later wrote a column for the Houston Daily Post. In the meantime,

the First National Bank was examined, and the subsequent indictment of 1886 stated that

15) Porter had embezzled funds. Porter then fled to New Orleans, and later to Honduras,

leaving his wife and child in Austin. He returned in 1897 because of his wife‟s continued ill-

health, however she died six months later. Then, in 1898 Porter was found guilty and

sentenced to five years imprisonment in Ohio. At the age of thirty five, he entered prison

as a defeated man; he had lost his job, his home, his wife, and finally his freedom. He

20) emerged from prison three years later, reborn as O. Henry, the pseudonym he now used

to hide his true identity. He wrote at least twelve stories in jail, and after re-gaining his

freedom, went to New York City, where he published more than 300 stories and gained

fame as America‟s favorite short Story writer. Porter married again in 1907, but after

months of poor health, he died in New York City at the age of forty-eight in 1910. O.

Henry‟s stories have been translated all over the world.

(

1. Why did the author write the passage?

(

A) because it is a tragic story of a gifted writer

B) to outline the career of a famous American

C) because of his fame as America‟s favorite short story writer

D) to outline the influences on O. Henry‟s writing

2. According to the passage, Porter‟s Father was

(

A) responsible for his move to La Salle County in Texas

B) the person who gave him a life-long love of books

C) a medical doctor

D) a licensed pharmacist

3

. The word “allegedly” in line 9 is closest in meaning to

A) supposedly (B) reportedly

(

(C) wrongly

(D) mistakenly

4. Which of the following is true, according to the passage?

(

A) both of Porter‟s wives died before he died

B) Porter left school at 15 to become a pharmacist

C) Porter wrote a column for the Houston Daily Post called “Rolling Stone”

D) the first recorded use of his pseudonym was in Austin

5. The word “venture” in line 12 is closest in meaning to

(

A) challenging experiment

C) speculative action

(B) bold initiative

(D) sorry experience

109

PRACTICE TEST 66

6

7

8

9

. The word “subsequent in line 14 is closest in meaning to

(

A) resulting (B) police (C) alleged

(D) official

(D) books

. Porter lost all of the following when he went to prison EXCEPT his

A) home (B) wife (C) job

(

. According to the author, how many stories did Porter write while in prison for three years?

A) more than 300 (B) 35 (C) at least 12 (D) over 20

(

. The author implies which of the following is true?

(

A) Porter would probably have written less stories if he had not been in prison for three years

B) Porter was in poor health throughout his life

C) O. Henry is as popular in many other countries as he is in America

D) Porter‟s wife might have lived longer if he had not left her in Austin when he fled.

10. Where in the passage does the author mention a habit of Porter that was to become very useful for him

later?

(

A) lines 6-10

(B) lines 11-15

(C) lines 16-20

(D) lines 21-25

Questions 11-21

Alexis de Tocqueville, the French political scientist, historian, philosopher and

politician, is most famous for a four-volume book he wrote called “Democracy in America”.

He came to America in 1831 to study the American form of democracy and what it might

Line mean to the rest of the world. After a visit of only nine months, he wrote a remarkable

(

5)

book which is regarded as a classic. De Tocqueville had unusual powers of observation.

He described not only the democratic system of government and how it operated, but also

its effect on how Americans think, feel, and act. Many scholars believe he had a deeper

understanding of traditional American beliefs and values than anyone else who has written

about the United States. What is so remarkable is that many of these traits which he

10) observed nearly 200 years ago, are still visible and meaningful today. His observations are

also important because the timing of his visit, the 1830s, was before America was

industrialized. This was the era of the small farmer, the small businessman, and the

settling of the western frontier. It was the period of history when the traditional values of

the new country were newly established. In just a generation, some 40 years since the

15) adoption of the U.S. Constitution, the new form of government had already produced a

society of people with unique values. He was, however, a neutral observer and saw both

the good and bad sides of these qualities.

The first part of “Democracy in America” was written in 1831-32 and published in

1835. A highly positive and optimistic account of American government and society, the

(

20) book was very well received. He attempted to get a glimpse of the essence of American

society, all the while promoting his own philosophy: the equaling of the classes and the

inevitable depth of aristocratic privilege. The rest of the book he labored on for four years,

and in 1840 the second part was published. This was substantially more pessimistic than

the first, warning of the dangers despotism and governmental centralization, and applying

25) his ideas and criticisms more directly to France. As a result, it was not received as well as

the first part, except in England where it was acclaimed highly.

110

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

11. What is the passage primarily about?

(

A) Alexis de Tocqueville

B) “Democracy in America”

C) the progress achieved in America within about 40 years after adoption of the U.S. Constitution

D) the impact of the book “Democracy in America”

12. All of the following fields of professional interest and activity are used to describe de Tocqueville

EXCEPT

(

A) philosopher

(B) author

(C) political scientist

(D) politician

(D) 1835

1

3. According to the passage, when did de Tocqueville visit America

A) 1830s (B) 1831 (C) 1831-32

(

14. The phrase “these traits” in lines 9-10 refers to

(

A) observations

(B) how Americans think, feel, and act

(D) visible and meaningful observations

C) traditional American beliefs and values

15. What in the passage is mentioned as being truly remarkable?

(

A) many of his observations are still visible and meaningful today

B) the book was so detailed and thorough after only such a comparatively short visit

C) that the second volume should be so pessimistic in comparison with the first

D) de Tocqueville‟s powers of observation

16. The word “unique” in line 16 is closest in meaning to

(

A) clearly identifiable

C) unmatched

(B) outstanding

(D) positive

1

7. The word “neutral” in line 16 is closest in meaning to

A) impartial (B) careful

(

(C) important

(D) thorough

18. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

(

A) the English don‟t like the French

B) the book was most important because it was the first time that American values had been clearly

documented

(

C) de Tocqueville was a slow writer

D) de Tocqueville was primarily motivated by an interest in his own country

19. The word “glimpse” in line 20 is closest in meaning to

(

A) overview

(B) glance

C) brief understanding

(D) quick conclusion

2

0. According to the passage, “Democracy in America” consisted of how many volumes?

A) one (B) two (C) three (D) four

(

21. Which of the following is true, according to the passage?

(

A) the visit lasted only five months

B) the visit coincided with American industrialization

C) the first part was published in 1835; the second part in 1840

D) the second part was more optimistic than the first

111

PRACTICE TEST 66

Questions 22-31

The study of the astronomical practices, celestial lore, mythologies, religions and

world-views of all ancient cultures is called archaeoastronomy. It is described, in essence,

as the "anthropology of astronomy", to distinguish it from the "history of astronomy". Many

Line of the great monuments and ceremonial constructions of early civilizations were

(

5)

astronomically aligned, and two well-known ancient archaeological sites seem to have had

an astronomical purpose. The Orion mystery, as it is dubbed, purports that the geometry

and brightness of the stars in the Orion constellation are mirrored in the alignment and

size of the great pyramids of Egypt. While this claim remains hypothetical, it is

nevertheless clear that ancient Egyptians incorporated astronomy with architecture. In the

(

10) Temple of Abu Simbel, for example, sunlight penetrates a sacred chamber to illuminate a

statue of Ramses on October 18, which ushered in the start of the Egyptian civil year.

Astronomy did not exist on its own, however, but as one limb of a larger body whose other

limbs included agriculture and the after-life. In this sense, astronomy linked the two

themes humans are most obsessed with: life and death.

(

15)

Around the same period, another monument was erected that combines religion,

architecture and astronomy. Stonehenge was built in three separate stages, starting in

approximately 3000 B.C. Mostly it remains a mystery, but two clues offer some

enlightenment. One is that the megalithic arrangement is not random nor purely aesthetic

but astronomical: It marks the solstice and lunar phases. The other is that archaeological

20) excavations have revealed it was also used in religious ceremonies. Chinese records

suggest their own astronomical observations dated from the same period; Indian sacred

books point to earlier observations; and Babylonian clay tablets show Chaldean priests

had been observing the sky (including the motion of the visible planets and of eclipses)

shortly thereafter. But the earliest physical vestige of an observatory in fact, lies in

25) southern Egypt. Surprisingly it is probably not the product of a Semitic (Syrian or

Babylonian) peoples but rather sub-Saharan, as evidenced by analysis of a human

jawbone found on site. The Nabta site is the African equivalent of Stonehenge except it

predates it by some 1,500 years.

22. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(

A) the definition and some examples of archaeoastronomy

B) the possible astronomical significance of ancient monuments

C) the history of astronomy

D) the oldest known site possibly used for astronomy

2

3. The word “celestial” in line 1 could best be replaced by

A) ancient (B) historical (C) heavenly

(

(D) scientific

24. According to the passage, archaeoastronomy

(

A) pre-dates astronomy

(B) is the anthropology of astronomy

(D) is not a true science

C) is also called the history of astronomy

25. Which of the following, according to the passage, is true about the great pyramids of Egypt?

(

A) they were built for purposes of astronomy

B) they mark the solstice and lunar phases

C) one of them contains a statue of Ramses in a sacred chamber

D) they are part of the Orion mystery

26. The word “ushered” in line 11 is closest in meaning to

112

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

(

A) brought

(B) identified

(C) marked

(D) signaled

2

7. The word “illuminate” in line 11 is closest in meaning to

A) light up (B) warm up (C) touch

8. Where in the passage does the author make reference to the moon?

A) lines 5-9 (B) lines 10-14 (C) lines 15-19

(

(D) explain

2

(

(D) lines 20-24

2

3

9. The word “enlightenment” in line 18 is closest in meaning to

(

A) awareness (B) hope (C) evidence

(D) explanation

0. According to the passage, the earliest known site of an observatory is probably

A) Semitic (B) Babylonian (C) Chaldean

(

(D) Sub-Saharan

(D) sub-Saharan

1. In line 27, the word “it” refers to which of the following?

A) Stonehenge (B) the Nabta site (C) African

(

Questions 32-39

In 1803 the United States negotiated the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from

France for $15 million. With a stroke of a pen America doubled in size, making it one of

the largest nations in the world. The sale included over 600 million acres at a cost of less

Line than 3 cents an acre in what today is the better part of 13 states between the Mississippi

(

5)

River and the Rocky Mountains. For President Thomas Jefferson it was a diplomatic and

political triumph. In one fell swoop the purchase of Louisiana ended the threat of war with

France and opened up the land west of the Mississippi to settlement. By any measure the

purchase of Louisiana was the most important action of Jefferson‟s two terms as

president. Jefferson knew that acquiring the very heart of the American continent would

(

10) prove to be the key to the future of the United States.

Initially Jefferson sent his minister to France, Robert Livingston, offered Napoleon

$2 million for a small tract of land on the lower Mississippi. There, Americans could build

their own seaport. Impatient at the lack of news, Jefferson sent James Monroe to Paris to

offer $10 million for New Orleans and West Florida. Almost at the same time, and

15) unknown to Jefferson, France had offered all of Louisiana to Livingston for $15 million.

Though the transaction was quickly sealed, there were those who objected to the

purchase on the grounds that the Constitution did not provide for purchasing territory.

However, Jefferson temporarily set aside his idealism to tell his supporters in Congress

that "what is practicable must often control what is pure theory." The majority agreed.

20) Jefferson later admitted that he had stretched his power "till it cracked" in order to buy

Louisiana, the largest single land purchase in American history.

(

32. What is the passage mainly about?

(

A) Jefferson‟s most important action during two terms as President

B) how America doubled in size overnight, through its largest single land purchase

C) testing the United States Constitution

D) Jefferson and his most important action of the Purchase of Louisiana

33. According to the passage, how much was paid for each acre of land

(

A) less than 3 cents

C) 15 million dollars

(B) 8 cents

(D) over 600 million dollars

34. The word “it” in line 6 refers to

(

A) ending the threat of war with France

C) the sale

(B) opening up land west of the Mississippi

(D) doubling the size of America overnight

113

PRACTICE TEST 66

3

5. The word “acquiring” in line 10 is closest in meaning to

A) going to (B) obtaining (C) abandoning

(

(D) including

36. Which of the following, according to the passage, is NOT true

(

A) Jefferson acted outside his constitutional powers

B) Congress did not fully support Jefferson

C) Jefferson sent Robert Livingston to France with an offer for New Orleans and West Florida

D) America wanted to build its own seaport

3

7. The word “idealism” in line 20 is closest in meaning to

A) vision (B) principles

(

(C) realism

(D) philosophy

38. The phrase “pure theory” in line 22 is closest in meaning to

(

A) meant to be

(B) rules that are meant to be broken

(D) the unworkable

C) untested rules

39. According to the passage, the word “power” in line 23 refers to Jefferson using

(

A) the negotiations

C) his idealism

(B) constitutional power

(D) practical power

Questions 40-50

Exquisite patterns and surface ornamentation were an integral part of the aesthetics

of the late Victorian era. In America, these developments were incorporated into the

themes of national expositions and artistic movements, as cottage industries grew and

Line productivity in the decorative arts flourished. The last three decades of the 19th century

(

5)

saw a change in sensibility that resulted in new stylistic approaches in American

decorative arts, a departure from the previous era of Rococo and Renaissance Revival

excess. Shapes became more angular, smoother and less flamboyant. The popular

carvings and deep modeling of earlier years disappeared as ornamentation became more

linear and lighter in appearance. Decoration focused on the surface with rich and elegant

(

10) patterns adorning furniture, objects of every sort, and architectural and interior

decorations. This artistic reawakening was prompted by the effects of the Industrial

Revolution on contemporary design.

This new attitude, with its focus on ornament and the decorative, was later referred

to as the Aesthetic Movement, but it also encompassed the early Arts and Crafts

(

15) Movement as well. The purpose was to bring a refined sensibility and components of

“

good taste” to the domestic interior. Art and good taste not only denoted good character,

but also could be used to induce proper moral conduct and actions, thereby contributing to

the betterment of society. This placed a heavy burden on designers/decorators as well as

on women as keepers of the home. Americans drew inspiration from the writing and work

20) of English artists. This was a period of great eclecticism. Tastes ranged from the Modern

Gothic through the Persian, Greek and Islamic, to the Japanese, and with more than a nod

to Mother Nature. Yet, regardless of the influence, surface pattern reigned supreme.

English reformers dictated that ornament should be derived from nature, and pattern

should be flat and stylized. Forms were accentuated by colored outlines, or often with

25) touches of gold. The emphasis was on art and on development of a refined sensibility. It

was all a matter of taste.

114

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

40. What is the main topic of the passage?

(

A) defining the “Aesthetic Movement”

B) decorative arts in late 19th century America

C) English influences on American decorative arts in the late 19th century

D) The change in tastes from “Rocco and Renaissance Revival” to the „Aesthetic Movement” in late

19th century America

4

1. The word “integral” in line 1 is closest in meaning to

A) essential (B) additional

(

(C) important

(D) beautifying

42. According to the passage, during the Aesthetic Movement popular carvings and deep modeling of earlier

years

(

A) were popular

C) disappeared

(B) again became popular

(D) defined good taste

4

3. The word “elegant” in line 9 is closest in meaning to

A) beautiful (B) ornamental

(

(C) colorful

(D) refined

44. According to the passage, the purpose of the Aesthetic Movement was to

(

A) induce proper moral conduct and actions

B) define what was meant by good taste in the domestic interior

C) encompass Arts and Crafts as well as ornament an decoration

D) define good character and contribute to the betterment of society

45. The phrase “new attitude” in line 14 refers to

(

A) including the early Arts and Craft Movement as well

B) artistic reawakening

C) the Industrial Revolution

D) Rococo and Renaissance Revival

4

6. The word “denoted” in line 16 is closest in meaning to

(

A) promoted (B) facilitated

(C) developed

(D) signified

7. Where in the passage does the author mention the influence of art and good taste on morals?

A) lines 5-9 (B) lines 10-14 (C) lines 15-20 (D) lines 20-24

(

8. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

(

A) designers and decorators were mainly responsible for starting the new attitude

B) the movement led to a higher standard of morality in late 19th century America

C) the Americans considered the English to be the arbiters of good taste

D) women, as keepers of the home, faced a heavy burden

49. According to the passage, which of the following remained most important, regardless of influences from

other countries?

(

A) surface pattern

C) good taste

(B) English opinions

(D) Proper moral conduct and actions

50. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a feature of the Aesthetic Movement?

(

A) shapes became less flamboyant

(B) ornamentation became lighter in appearance

(D) decorations focused mainly on furniture

C) forms were accentuated by colored lines

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PRACTICE TEST 66

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ANSWER KEY

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ACBACD CCBADB BADCC BABADA CDADBCC

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CAAAADC CCCDDA CBBAAC DBBDC DCABBB

PRACTICE TEST 49

CDACAB BDCBB BCADD CCAABBC CBBDCAD

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CDDCAAB BCADBBC DBABDC ACBDAB CADC

PRACTICE TEST 51

DCBD DCACAB ABABC DBADCCCB

PRACTICE TEST 52

BACADB AADCD ABBCCDA DAABBC

PRACTICE TEST 53

BDCDCDB BAAACBD DCCDA

PRACTICE TEST 54

CBBCDC BCABDADD ACACABDA ABDDCBCA

PRACTICE TEST 55

DCDABBC ABADC CBDABAB ACDABD CBBAB

PRACTICE TEST 56

ABDC CADAAB ABCCCBC ABACDB ABDCCCB

PRACTICE TEST 57

ADBBC DBDCAC CBADBAD CBDAB AACDBCA

PRACTICE TEST 58

CDACBCB ADBAC CBAC ABCAADD CBDDABC

PRACTICE TEST 59

BDABADDB ACCDAA BDCCBA CABBCDA DAB

PRACTICE TEST 60

ABBBDD DBCCBDB ADBDBC CBACDCBA DBD

PRACTICE TEST 61

CCADAB CDACCAB BACBA ACADDBA ABDAA

PRACTICE TEST 62

CBBDC BDCAA DBBCC BADBB ADCDC CDABB CBDAB CADCD BBADC DCBCB

PRACTICE TEST 63

BDCAA BDBCD DCABA DDBBC CDBDA CABDD CDBBB DDCCB ACDBD DABAB

PRACTICE TEST 64

BDBCA CCDDB ACCAD DACBD ADCAC BBDAB ACBAC DBCBA CADDD DCBAB

PRACTICE TEST 65

DCBBC CCDAC DCADB BDCDA DADDA BCCDA BCBCA BDDCA DBDCB BBCBB

PRACTICE TEST 66

BCADC ADCCA BBBCA CABBD CBCBC AACAD BDACB CBCBB ACABB DCDAD

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