Times: 55 minutes
Directions: In this section you will read several passages. Each one is followed by several questions about it. For questions 1-50, you are to choose the one best answer, (A), (B), (C), or (D), to each question. Then, on your ‘answer sheet, find the number
of the question and fill in the space that corresponds to the letter of the answer you have chosen.
Answer all questions following a passage on the basis of what is stated or implied in that passage.
Read the following passage:
The railroad was not the first institution to impose regularity on society, or to
draw attention to the importance of precise timekeeping. For as long as merchants have set out their wares at daybreak and communal festivities have been celebrated, people have been in rough agreement with their neighbors as to the time of day. The value of this tradition is today more apparent than ever. Were it not for public acceptance of a single yardstick of time, social life would be unbearably chaotic: the massive daily transfers of goods, services, and information would proceed in fits and starts; the very fabric of modem society would begin to unravel.
Example I
What is the main idea of the passage?
(A) In modem society we must make more time for our neighbors.
(B) The traditions of society are timeless.
(C) An accepted way of measuring time is essential for the smooth functioning of society.
(D) Society judges people by the times at which they conduct certain activities.
The main idea of the passage is that societies need to agree about how time is to be measured in order to function smoothly. Therefore, you should choose (C).
Example II
In line 5, the phrase “this tradition” refers to
(A) the practice of starting the business day at dawn
(B) friendly relations between neighbors
(C) the railroad’s reliance on time schedules
(0) people’s agreement on the measurement of time
The phrase “this tradition” refers to the preceding clause, “people have been in rough agreement with their neighbors as to the time of day.” Therefore, you should choose (D).
Now begin work on the questions.
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Questions 1-10
Before the mid-1860’s, the impact of the railroads in the United States was limited,
in the sense that the tracks ended at the Missouri River, approximately the centers of the
country. At that point the trains turned their freight, mail, and passengers over to
line steamboats, wagons, and stagecoaches. This meant that wagon freighting, stagecoaching
(5) and steamboating did not come to an end when the first train appeared; rather they
became supplements or feeders. Each new “end-of-track” became a center for animal
drawn or waterborne transportation. The major effect of the railroad was to shorten the
distance that had to be covered by the older, slower, and more costly means. Wagon
freighters continued operating throughout the 1870’s and 1880’s and into the 1890’s,
(10) although over constantly shrinking routes, and coaches and wagons continued to
crisscross the West wherever the rails had not yet been laid.
The beginning of a major change was foreshadowed in the later 1860’s, when the
Union Pacific Railroad at last began to build westward from the Central Plaints city of
Omaha to meet the Central Pacific Railroad advancing eastward form California through 121
(15) the formidable barriers of the Sierra Nevada. Although President Abraham Lincoln
signed the original Pacific Railroad bill in 1862 and a revised, financially much more
generous version in 1864, little construction was completed until 1865 on the Central
Pacific and 1866 on the Union Pacific. The primary reason was skepticism that a
railroad built through so challenging and thinly settled a stretch of desert, mountain,
(20) and semiarid plain could pay a profit. In the words of an economist, this was a case of
“premature enterprise”, where not only the cost of construction but also the very high
risk deterred private investment. In discussing the Pacific Railroad bill, the chair of the
congressional committee bluntly stated that without government subsidy no one would
undertake so unpromising a venture; yet it was a national necessity to link East and
(25) West together.
1. The author refers to the impact of railroads before the late 1860’s as “limited” because
2. The word “they” in line 5 refers to
3. The word “supplements” in line 6 is closest in meaning to
4. What can be inferred about coaches and wagon freighters as the railroads expanded?
5. The word “crisscross” in line 11 is closest in meaning to
6. Why does the author mention the Sierra Nevada in line 15?
7. The word “skepticism” in line 18 is closest in meaning to 122
8. The Pacific railroads were considered a “premature enterprise” (line 21) because
9. The word “subsidy” in line 23 is closest in meaning to
10. Where in the passage does the author give example of geographical challenges to railroad construction?
Questions 11-22
Humanity’s primal efforts to systematize the concepts of size, shapes, and number
are usually regarded as the earliest mathematics. However, the concept of number and
the counting process developed so long before the time of recorded history (there is
line archaeological evidence that counting was employed by humans as far back as 50,000
(5) years ago) that the manner of this development is largely conjectural. Imaging how it
probably came about is not difficult. The argument that humans, even in prehistoric
times, had some number sense, at least to the extent of recognizing the concepts of
more and less when some objects were added to or taken away from a small group,
seems fair, for studies have shown that some animal possess such a sense.
(10) With the gradual evolution of society, simple counting became imperative. A tribe
had to know how many members it had and how many enemies, and shepherd needed
to know if the flock of sheep was decreasing in size. Probably the earliest way of keeping
a count was by some simple tally method, employing the principle of one-to-one
correspondence. In keeping a count of sheep, for example, one finger per sheep could
(15) be turned under. Counts could also be maintained by making scratches in the dirt or on
a stone, by cutting notches in a piece of wood, or by tying knots in a string.
Then, perhaps later, an assortment of vocal sounds was developed as a word tally
against the number of objects in a small group. And still later, with the refinement of
writing, a set of signs was devised to stand for these numbers. Such an imagined
(20) development is supported by reports of anthropologists in their studies of present-day
societies that are thought to be similar to those of early humans.
11. What does the passage mainly discuss?
12. The word “conjectural” in line 5 is closest in meaning to
13. Why does the author mention animals in line 9?
14. The word “it” in line 11 refers to
15. What is the basic principle of the tally method described in the second paragraph?
16. The word “employing” in line 13 is closest in meaning to
17. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as an early methods of counting?
18. The word “maintained” in line 15 is closest in meaning to
19. The word “assortment” in line 17 is closest in meaning to
20. It can be inferred that research in other academic fields relates to research in the author’s field in which of the following ways?
21. Which of the following conclusions is supported by the passage?
22. Where in the passage does the author mention the ability of animals to recognized small and large groups?
Questions 23-31
As the merchant class expanded in the eighteenth-century North American colonies,
the silversmith and the coppersmith businesses rose to serve it. Only a few silversmiths
were available in New York or Boston in the late seventeenth century, but in the
line eighteenth century they could be found in all major colonial cities. No other colonial
(5) artisans rivaled the silversmiths’ prestige. They handled the most expensive materials
and possessed direct connections to prosperous colonies merchants. Their products,
primarily silver plates and bowls, reflected their exalted status and testified to their
customers’ prominence.
Silver stood as one of the surest ways to store wealth at a time before neighborhood
(10) banks existed. Unlike the silver coins from which they were made, silver articles were
readily identifiable. Often formed to individual specifications, they always carried
the silversmith’s distinctive markings and consequently could be traced and retrieved.
Customers generally secured the silver for the silver objects they ordered. They
saved coins, took them to smiths, and discussed the type of pieces they desired.
(15) Silversmiths complied with these requests by melting the money in a small furnace,
adding a bit of copper to form a stronger alloy, and casting the alloy in rectangular
blocks. They hammered these ingots to the appropriate thickness by hand, shaped
them, and pressed designs into them for adornment. Engraving was also done by hand.
In addition to plates and bowls, some customers sought more intricate products, such as
(20) silver teapots. These were made by shaping or casting parts separately and then
soldering them together.
Colonial coppersmithing also came of age in the early eighteenth century and
prospered in northern cities. Copper’s ability to conduct heat efficiently and to resist
corrosion contributed to its attractiveness. But because it was expensive in colonial 125
(25) America, coppersmiths were never very numerous. Virtually all copper worked by
smiths was imported as sheets or obtained by recycling old copper goods. Copper was
used for practical items, but it was not admired for its beauty. Coppersmiths employed
it to fashion pots and kettles for the home. They shaped it in much the same manner as
silver or melted it in a foundry with lead or tin. They also mixed it with zinc to make
(30) brass for maritime and scientific instruments.
23. According to the passage, which of the following eighteenth-century developments had a strong impact on silversmiths?
24. The word “They” in line 5 refers to
25. The word “exalted” in line 7 is closest in meaning to
26. In colonial America, where did silversmiths usually obtain the material to make silver articles?
27. The word “ingots” in line 17 refers to
28. The phrase “came of age” in line 22 is closest in meaning to
29. The passage mentions all of the following as uses for copper in colonial America EXCEPT
30. According to the passage, silversmiths and coppersmiths in colonial America were similar in which of the following ways?
31. Based on the information in paragraph 4, which of the following was probably true about copper in the colonies?
Questions 32-40
Fossils are the remains and traces (such as footprints or other marks) of ancient
plant and animal life that are more than 10,000 years old. They range in size from
microscopic structures to dinosaur skeletons and complete bodies of enormous animals.
Skeletons of extinct species of human are also considered fossils.
(5) An environment favorable to the growth and later preservation of organisms
is required for the occurrence of fossils. Two conditions are almost always present:
(1) The possession of hard parts, either internal or external, such as bones, teeth, scales,
shells, and wood; these parts remain after the rest of the organism has decayed.
Organisms that lack hard parts, such as worms and jelly fish, have left a meager
(10) geologic record. (2) Quick burial of the dead organism, so that protection is afforded
against weathering, bacterial action, and scavengers.
Nature provides many situations in which the remains of animals and plants are
protected against destruction. Of these, marine sediment is by far the most important
environment for the preservation of fossils, owing to the incredible richness of marine
(15) life. The beds of former lakes are also prolific sources of fossils. The rapidly
accumulating sediments in the channels, floodplains, and deltas of streams bury
fresh-water organisms, along with land plants and animals that fall into the water. The
beautifully preserved fossil fish from the Green River soil shale of Wyoming in the
western United States lived in a vast shallow lake.
(20) The frigid ground in the far north acts as a remarkable preservative for animal
fossils. The woolly mammoth, along-haired rhinoceros, and other mammals have been
periodically exposed in the tundra of Siberia, the hair and red flesh still frozen in cold
storage.
Volcanoes often provide environments favorable to fossil preservation. Extensive
(25) falls of volcanic ash and coarser particles overwhelm and bury all forms of life, from
flying insects to great trees.
Caves have preserved the bones of many animals that died in them and were
subsequently buried under a blanket of clay or a cover of dripstone. Predatory animals
and early humans alike sought shelter in caves and brought food to them to the eater,
leaving bones that paleontologists have discovered.
32. The passage primarily discusses which of the following?
33. The word “traces” in line 1 is closest in meaning to
34. All of the following facts about fossils are refereed to by the author (paragraph 1) EXCEPT the fact that they can be
35. The fossil fish from the Green River (paragraph 3) were probably preserved because they were
36. The word “exposed” in line 22 is closest in meaning to
37. Which of the following is LEAST likely to be found as a fossil, assuming that all are buried rapidly?
38. It can be inferred that a condition that favors fossilization when volcanic ash falls to Earth is
39. The word “them” in line 29 refers to
40. Which of the following is true of the environments in which fossil are found?
Questions 41-50
A useful definition of an air pollutant is a compound added directly or indirectly
by humans to the atmosphere in such quantities as to affect humans, animals
vegetations, or materials adversely. Air pollution requires a very flexible definition
that permits continuous change. When the first air pollution laws were established in
(5) England in the fourteenth century, air pollutants were limited to compounds that could
be seen or smelled-a far cry from the extensive list of harmful substances known
today. As technology has developed and knowledge of the health aspects of various
chemicals has increased, the list of air pollutants has lengthened. In the future,
even water vapor might be considered an air pollutant under certain conditions.
(10) Many of the more important air pollutants, such as sulfur oxides, carbon monoxide,
and nitrogen oxides, are found in nature. As the Earth developed, the concentrations
of these pollutants were altered by various chemical reactions; they became components
in biogeochemical cycle. These serve as an air purification scheme by allowing the
compounds to move from the air to the water or soil on a global basis, nature’s
(15) output of these compounds dwarfs that resulting form human activities. However, human
production usually occurs in a localized area, such as a city.
In this localized regions, human output may be dominant and may temporarily overload
the natural purification scheme of the cycle. The result is an increased concentration
of noxious chemicals in the air. The concentrations at which the adverse effects
(20) appear will be greater than the concentrations that the pollutants would have
in the absence of human activities. The actual concentration need not be large for a
substance to be a pollutant; in fact the numerical value tells us little until we know
how much of an increase this represents over the concentration that would occur
naturally in the area. For example, sulfur dioxide has detectable health effects at
(25) 0.08 parts per million (ppm), which is about 400 times its natural level. Carbon
monoxide, however, has a natural level of 0.1 ppm and is not usually a pollutant until
its level reaches about 15 ppm.
41. What does the passage mainly discuss?
42. The word “adversely” in line 3 is closest in meaning to
43. It can be inferred from the first paragraph that
44. The word “altered” in line 12 is closest in meaning to
45. Natural pollutants can play an important role in controlling air pollution for which of the following reasons?
46. According to the passage, which of the following is true about human-generated air pollution in localized regions?
47. The word “noxious’ in line 19 is closest in meaning to
48. According to the passage, the numerical valued of the concentration level of a substance is only useful if
49. The word “detectable” in line 24 is closest in meaning to
50. Which of the following is best supported by the passage?