Practice Test 2

10
Question 1-7
Line
5
10
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
(B) Grace
(C) Form
(D) Nature
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
(C) floating among underwater flowers
(D) chasing prey around wharf pilings
4. The word "capture" in line 9 is closest in
meaning to which of the following?
(A) Catch
(B) Control
(C) Cover
(D) Clean
5. The word "disturbed" in line 12 is closest in
meaning to which of the following?
(A) Bothered
(B) Hungry
(C) Tired
(D) Sick
Practice Test 2
11
6. 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
Practice Test 2
12
Question 8-13
Line
5
10
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
1830s 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.
8. 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
9. The word "reliable" in line 3 is closest in
meaning to which of the following
(A) Quick
(B) Safe
(C) Dependable
(D) Luxurious
10. Which of the following can be inferred
from the passage about stagecoach travel in
Canada in the 1831's?
(A) It was reasonably comfortable.
(B) It was extremely efficient.
(C) It was not popular.
(D) It was very practical.
11. According to the passage, when was the
Welland Canal opened?
(A) 1807
(B) 1809
(C) 1825
(D) 1829
12. The word "sum" in line 11 is closest in
meaning to which of the following?
(A) Size
(B) Cost
(C) Payment
(D) Amount
Practice Test 2
13
13. According to the passage, steamships
became practical means of transportation in
Canada because of
(A) improvements in the waterways
(B) large subsidies from John Molson
(C) a relatively small population
(D) the lack of alternate means
Practice Test 2
14
Question 14-19
Line
5
10
15
20
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
constitutes 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. 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.
14. 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 archaeologists
education
(C) To explain how archaeology is a source
of history
(D) To encourage more people to become
archaeologists
15. 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
16. The word "they" in line 14 refers to
(A) scraps
(B) words
(C) troops
(D) humans
Practice Test 2
15
17. Which of the following is NOT mentioned
as an example of an organic material?
(A) Stone
(B) Wool
(C) Grass
(D) Hair
18. The author mentions all of the following
archaeological discovery sites EXCEPT
(A) urban areas
(B) peat bogs
(C) very hot and dry lands
(D) earth that has been frozen
19. 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
Practice Test 2
16
Question 20-24
Line
5
10
15
20
25
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 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.
20. 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
21. According to the passage, what did nature
represent to Isadora Duncan?
(A) Something to conquer
(B) A model for movement
(C) A place to find peace
(D) A symbol of disorder
Practice Test 2
17
22. Which of the following is NOT mentioned
in the passage as an area of dance that
Isadora Duncan worked to change?
(A) The music
(B) The stage sets
(C) Costumes
(D) Movements
23. Compared to those of the ballet, Isadora
Duncan's costumes were less
(A) costly
(B) colorful
(C) graceful
(D) restrictive
24. What does the paragraph following the
passage most probably discuss?
(A) Isadora Duncans 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
Practice Test 2
18
Question 25-30
Line
5
10
15
20
25
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.
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.
25. What is the main topic of the passage?
(A) Magnetic field reversal
(B) The formation of magma
(C) The location of mid - ocean ridges
(D) Plate tectonic theory
26. 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
27. 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
Practice Test 2
19
28. 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
29. 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
30. The author states that the width of the
stripes preserved in magnetized volcanic
rock give information about the
(A) date of a volcanic eruption
(B) speed of sea - floor spreading
(C) width of oceanic crust
(D) future behavior of the geomagnetic
field