STUDY AND THINKING SKILLS

Part II – ANALYZIN TEST ITEMS

A. Sample Test Items

Directions: Read the portion of a proposal on smoking written below. The decide who could have
written each proposal. Choose and copy the letter of the best answer for each item.

1. Proposal A:

I strongly propose that colleges and universities allow smoking among students in the campus
during break as a way of easing pressure and tension caused by heavy academic demands.

A. A psychologist
B. A parent
C. A student who smoke
D. A student leader

This is a question on critical thinking, specifically on noting point of view. The proposal requires
sensitivity to the speaker’s word choice and stand on the issue. The words campus, break,
academic pressure and tension suggest that a person is very familiar with college life, and the
stand is not against, but for smoking. Although choices A, B, and D are also familiar with university
life, not all of them would fight for smoking. The best answer is C – the one who is a university
student and who smokes would be the most likely to propose the idea.

2. Proposal B:

Smoking increases the chances of having fire accidents not only in schools but also in all public
places – parks, hotels, markets, and villages. It could be a way of endangering the lives of people
whose interest the government has promised to serve and protect.

A. A physician
B. A store owner
C. A fire chief
D. A teacher

The analysis done in 1 can be used here, too. Word choice will give a clue as to who is speaking –
words such as accidents, places, markets, hotels, government, serve, and protect. Take note that
the person’s stand is not for, but against smoking. Choice A, physician will not talk about the risks
of smoking in this manner and perhaps would not encourage smoking. Choice B, store owner,
might cite other reasons and might be ambivalent about the issue – either to fight for or against
smoking. A teacher, choice D, might not advocate smoking, but will offer different explanation. The
best answer is choice C. Among the choices, only a fire chief would explain reasons the way it was
done in the proposal because of which smoking is not viewed positively.

3. How would a tobacco grower explain the reason of the proposal for smoking?
A. Smoking indirectly boosts the country’s economy.
B. Smoking relaxes the nerves, and this helps control negative emotions.
 C. Smoking has always been a part of male identity and superiority over women.
D. Smoking benefits the people who consider the plant as their source of income.

This is a thinking skill question which requires an analysis of the person’s character as basis for
identifying perspective and point of view. Notice that the person involved is a tobacco grower who
would encourage smoking for business reasons. Choice A is perhaps from an economist’s view, while
Choice B could be made by a plain smoker trying to justify the act. Choice C might be a statement by
a sociologist talking about gender issues. Choice D is the correct answer because tobacco grower
depends on the plant for a living, and so he/she airs a view from a business or labor perspective.

B. Practice Test

Read the selection and answer the question that follow. Write only the letter of the best answer for
each item.

1 For all his ability to travel over a sandy desert without water, the camel has a nasty
temper and the spirit of revenge. He’s not happy until he pays back a wrong, actual or seeming.
Knowing this, camel drivers and others who use camels a lot have devised an interesting way of
letter the camel settle his scores without the person getting hurt.
2 When a driver has made a camel angry in some way or other, he immediately runs out of
sight. He hides near the road on which the camel will pass. He them takes off his clothes and
throws them down on a heap, which vaguely resembles a sleeping person.
3 Along comes the camel. He sees and smells the clothes of the one who hurt him. Then he
pounces upon the pile, shakes every piece and tramples all over everything. Satisfied, he walks
away. The driver comes out of hiding, mounts the avenged beast, and rides off.
4 It makes one think of the baby who bumps its head against the leg of the table, turns
around, and hits the leg in punishment.

-from 1000 Stories You Can Use by Frank Mihalic

1. What is the passage mostly about?

A. a camel and his driver
B. a driver’s way to trick an angry camel
C. a camel’s attitude when angry
D. a driver’s device to control anger
2. Who is referred to by the pronoun he in paragraph 1, sentence 2?
A. Driver
B. Camel
C. Person
D. Cloth
3. Who is referred to by the pronoun he in paragraph 2?
A. Driver
B. Camel
C. Anger
D. Sight
 4. How does the writer regard the camel?
A. With respect and care
B. With fear and love
C. With humility and love
D. With contempt and criticism
5. What does the writer think about the camel’s driver?

The driver is wise and cleverThe driver is a foolThe driver is loving and kindThe driver is a friend
of a camel

6. What is implied by the statement, “He’s not happy until he pays back a wrong actual or
seeming”?

The camel does not forgive any offense.The camel never stops seeking revenge.The camel pays
for his happiness by doing the right thingThe camel’s happiness is making right the wrong done
against him.

7. What happens after the camel has trampled all over the clothes of the driver?

The camel walks awayThe camel smells the clothesThe driver comes out of hidingThe driver
walks away from the camel

A study made a number of years ago said the more education a man has, the less likely he
is to be an inventor. Now, the reason for that is quite simple. From the time the boy or girl starts in
school, he or she is examined three or four times a year, and of course, it is very, very disastrous if
he/she fails. An inventor fails all the time and it is a triumph if he succeeds once. Consequently, if
education is an inhibition to invention, it is due entirely to the form by which we rate things and not
because of any intellectual differential.
I can take any group of young people any place, and teach them to be inventors, if I can get
them to throw off the hazard of being afraid to fail. You fail because your ideas are not right. You
should not be afraid to fail, but you should learn to fail intelligently. By that I mean, when you fail,
find out why you failed, and each time you fail it will bring you nearer to the goal.
-from 1000 Stories You can Use by Frank Mihalic

8. What relationship is shown between education and invention?

A. The former is the cause of the latter.
B. Education is not useful for the inventor
C. One’s education guarantees an invention
D. Education does not encourage a person to be an inventor
9. According to the selection, what is true about an inventor?
A. An inventor succeeds in all endeavors
B. An inventor always succeeds in the first attempt.
C. An inventor gives up on the first failure of the experiment
D. An inventor experiences failure several times before he/she succeeds.
 10. How are the ideas mentioned in this statement connected, “If education is an inhibition to
invention, it is due entirely to the form by which we rate things”?
A. The sentence enumerates reasons for invention
B. The sentence conveys the result of being uneducated
C. The sentence compares education and invention
D. The sentence gives cause-effect relationship between education and invention.
11. What is the writer’s view about failure?
A. It is disastrous
B. It is an inhibition to invention
C. It hinders one’s desire to succeed
D. It helps people learn and get near their goal
12. What could be the message of the selection?
A. Success comes to those who persevere
B. Failure reflects one’s limited intellect
C. Success brings pride to one’s country
D. Failure stops people from inventing things.

It is said:
That there is hardly a bar of music which Beethoven did not rewrite at least a dozen times.
That Bryant rewrote THANATOPSIS a hundred times.
That Gibbon rewrote his AUTHOBIOGRAPHY nine times.
That Plato wrote the first sentence of his REPUBLIC nine times.
That Virgil spent 12 years writing his AENEID.
-from 1000 Stories You Can Use by Frank Mihalic

13. What does the word bar mean in the selection?

A. A vertical line drawn to show division of notes
B. A strip of wood used for obstruction
C. A gate closing a road
D. A railing in a court
14. What could be the reason for capitalizing some words in the selection?
A. They show the importance of greatness
B. The reflect insights on human nature
C. They stand for concepts difficult to understand
D. They represent great works of persistent people
15. What could be inferred about the people mentioned in the selection?
A. They are gifted with power
B. They are admired for who they are
C. They are bord to succeed in life
D. They are recognized in their discipline
16. Which is the best statement that tells the main idea of the selection?
A. One’s greatness is the product of brilliance
B. Perseverance makes one reach his or her goal
C. Success is measured by one’s effortless creation
D. Success is for every person who waits for it patiently
The Cook’s Prayer

Lord of all the pots and pans and things,

Since I’ve no time to be
A saint by doing lovely things,
Or watching late with Thee,
Or dreaming in the dawn light,
Or storming heaven’s gates,
Make me a saint by getting meals
And washing up the plates.
- From 1000 Stories You can Use by Frank Mihalic

17. Who is speaking in the poem?

A. A saint
B. The Lord
C. A cook
D. A wife
18. Which of the following tells what the speaker does?
A. Watches late at night
B. Dreams in the dawn light
C. Storms heaven’s gate
D. Washes up the plates
19. How does the speaker in the poem regard the saints?
A. With admiration
B. With compassion
C. With understanding
D. With sympathy
20. What do the last two lines mean? The speaker is saying that he ____________
A. Be given patience so he can do his word
B. Likes his job and praying to his saints
C. Wants to be a saint of pots and pans
D. Does not like to work at night

Chance walked through the rooms, which seemed empty; the heavily curtained windows
barely admitted the daylight. Slowly he looked at the large pieces of furniture shrouded in old linen
covers, and at the veiled mirrors. The words that the Old Man had spoken to him the first time had
wormed their way into his memory like firm roots. Chance was an orphan, and it was the Old Man
himself who had sheltered him in the house ever since Chance was a child. Chance’s mother had
died when he was born. No one, not even the Old Man, would tell him who his father was. While
some could learn to read and write, Chance would never be able to manage this. Nor would he ever
be able to understand much of what others were saying to him or around him. Chance was to work
in the garden, where he would care for plants and grasses and trees which grew there peacefully.
He would be as one of them: quiet, open hearted in the sunshine and heave when it rained. His
name was Chance because he had been born by chance. He had no family. Although his mother
had been very pretty, her mind had been as damaged as his; the soft solid of his brain, the ground
from which his thoughts shot up, had been ruined forever. Therefore, he could not look for a place
in the life led by people outside the house or the garden gate. Chance must limit his life to his
quarters and to the garden; he must not enter the other parts of the household or walk out into the
street. His food would always be brought to his room by Louise, who would be the only person to
see Chance and talk to him. No one else was allowed to enter Chance’s room. Only the Old Man
 21. “” It was the Old Man himself who had sheltered him in the house ever since Chance was a
child.” What does this suggest about their relationship?
A. Guardian
B. Brother
C. Father
D. Landlord
22. What would most likely happen to Chance if he were to venture outside the house?
A. He would be locked up in a cell and forgotten
B. He would end up in a special home for the insane
C. He would develop a successful gardening business
D. He would not understand the world around him
23. Which of the following paragraph details does not support the conclusion that Chance is very
limited in his abilities?
A. While some could learn to read and write, Chance would never be able to manage this.
B. Nor would he ever be able to understand much of what others were saying … around him.
C. Chance was to work in the garden, where he would care for plants and grasses and trees.
D. … he must not enter other parts of the household or walk out int the streets.
24. From the details of the passage, what type of person may Chance be compared to?
A. An insane adult
B. An unhappy teenager
C. An ungrateful son
D. An obedient child
25. What is the overall purpose of the passage from this novel?
A. Compare and contrast the characters of the Old Man and Chance
B. Provide a background description of Chance and his life
C. Explain the heredity (similar disabilities) of Chance’s mother
D. Promote the health benefits of peaceful gardening

PART III – ENHANCING TEST TAKING SKILLS

Read the selection and answer the questions that follow. Copy the letter of the best answer for each

1 What must occur to enable us to remember a friend’s name, a fact from history, or an
incident from our past? The act of remembering requires the successful completion of three
processes: encoding, storage, and retrieval. The first process, encoding, involves transforming
information into form that can be stored in memory. Sometimes we encode information
automatically, without any effort, but often we must do something with the information in order to
remember it. For example, if you met someone named George at a party, you might associate his
name with George Washington or George Bush. Such simple associations can markedly improve
your ability to recall names and other information. The careful encoding of information greatly
increases the chance that you will remember it.
2 The second memory process, storage, involves keeping or maintaining information in
memory. For encoded information to be stored, some physiological change in the brain must take
place – a process called consolidation. Normally consolidation occurs automatically, but If a person
loses consciousness for any reason, the process can be disrupted, and a permanent memory may
not form. That is why a person who has been in a serious car accident could awaken in hospital and
not remember what has happened.
3 The final process, retrieval, occurs when information stored in memory is brought to
mind. Calling George by name the next time you meet him shows that you have retrieved his name
from memory. To remember, we must perform all three processes – encode the information, store
it, and then retrieve it. Memory failure can result from the failure of any one of the three.
4 Similar steps are required in information processing of computers, information is encoded
(entered in some form the computer is able to use), then stored on disk, and later retrieved on the
screen. You would not be able to retrieve the materials if you had failed to enter it, if a power
failure occurred before you could save what you had entered, or if you forgot which disk or file
contained the needed information. Of course, human processing is far more complex than even the
most advanced computer systems, but computer processing provides a useful analogy to memory if
not taken too literally.
-from Steps to College Reading by Dorothy U. Seyler
item.

1. What was the selection mostly about?

A. Remembering George Bush
B. Processes in human memory
C. Processing information using computers
D. Steps in improving retention
2. What rhetorical pattern was used in the selection?
A. Chronological
B. Comparison-contrast
C. Cause-effect
D. Enumeration
3. What do you think was the purpose of highlighting some words in the selection?
A. To enumerate effects of memory
B. To discuss reasons of the process
C. To emphasize the processes involved
D. To relate the information to prior knowledge
 4. Which of the highlighted words is not a major process in memory?
A. Retrieval
B. Encoding
C. Storage
D. Consolidation
5. Which of the processes in memory should happen first?
A. Retrieval
B. Encoding
C. Storage
D. Consolidation
6. What type of change in the brain is needed for the storage of information?
A. Psychological
B. Psychosocial
C. Physiological
D. Physical
7. Why does memory fail, according to selection?
A. When encoding does not happen
B. When any one of the three fails
C. When consolidation does not take place
D. When retrieval is impossible
8. Which of the following statements can be deleted from the selection?
A. If you meet George at a party, you might associate his name with George Washington.
B. Encoding involves transforming information into a form that can be stored in memory.
C. Storage is the second memory process
D. Retrieval is the final process in memory
9. Which of the following could be the best title for the selection?
A. Human Brain and the Computer
B. The Three Processes in Memory
C. Improving One’s Memory
D. My Memory and I

Music Can Heal Mental Wounds but Only in the Right Hands
By Eva DorotheeSchmid

1 Human being have known about the healing properties of music since Biblical times –
according to the Old Testament for example. David soothed King Saul’s aching brow by reaching for
his harp.
2 There are also many references to the healing potential of music in texts left behind by
the ancient Greeks.
3 The same properties are not put to good use in the modern field if music therapy. Music
therapy is psychotherapeutic procedure which does not compete with traditional medicine but
rather tried to complement it.
4 Music arouses emotion, soothes, comforts and can lead to changes in behavior. It can
also encourage the healing process, increase a person’s ability to tolerate pain and help them
overcame their fears.
5 All of this can result in changes in the body’s chemistry.
6 Studies show that the right sort of music causes the body to release an increased amount
of so-called endorphins with the results that the person becomes less sensitive to pain and feels
much better.
 10. The writer discusses
A. The cause of music therapy
B. The effects of music
C. The music in Biblical times
D. The music for life
11. The ideas are arranged using _______ as a pattern of an organization.
A. Enumeration
B. Problem-Solution
C. Cause-Effect
D. Chronological
12. The writer defines a concept/term in paragraph
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
13. According to the selection, the following are the effects of music except
A. Emotional healing
B. Pain tolerance
C. Academic excellence
D. Behavioral change
14. There are ______ effects of music mentioned in paragraph 3.
A. 2
B. 3
C. 4
D. 5
15. The writer wants to explain
A. That music can replace medicine
B. How music can be useful for well-being
C. When music can complement medicine
D. Why music is popular

The Dangers of Acid Rain

Acid rain refers to all type of precipitations – rain, snow, sleet, hail, fog – that is acidic in
nature. Acidic means that these forms of water have a pH lower that 5.6 average of rainwater. Acid
rain kills aquatic life, trees, crops and other vegetation, damages buildings and monuments,
corrodes copper and lead piping, damages such man-made things as automobiles, reduces soil
fertility and can cause toxic metals to leach into underground water sources.
Rain is naturally acidic because carbon dioxide, found normally in the earth’s atmosphere,
reacts with water to form carbonic acid. While “pure” rain’s acidity is pH 5.6 to 5.7, actual pH
reading varies from place to place depending upon type and amount of other gases present in the
air, such as sulfur oxide and nitrogen oxides.
The term pH refers to the free hydrogen ions (electrically charged atoms) in water and is
measured on a scale from 0 to 14. Seven is considered neutral and measurements below seven are
acidic while those above it are basic or alkaline. Every point on the pH scale represents a tenfold
increase over the previous number. Thus, pH 4 is 10 times more acidic that pH 5 and 100 times
more acidic more so than pH 6. Similarly, pH 9 is 10 times more basic than pH 8 and 100 times
more basic than pH7.
 16. What is the average pH of rainwater?
A. 5.6
B. 14
C. 100
D. 10
17. Why is rain naturally acidic?
A. Because water reacts with atmosphere
B. Because of carbon dioxide’s reaction with water
C. Because of acid
D. Because of the atmosphere
18. What affects the variation in the actual pH readings?
A. The type of gases
B. The amount of gases
C. The type and amount of gases
D. The kinds of plants in the area
19. What are free hydrogen ions?
A. Electrically - changed ions
B. Electrically - charged atoms
C. Water measured on a scale
D. Electronically - charged atoms
20. Which is not directly stated as an effect of acid rain?
A. Death of marine life
B. Damage of monuments
C. Reduction of soil fertility
D. Extinction of human race

Not much is known about the early history of printing and movable typ. There is evidence,
however, that hand-set printing with movable type was first invented in China and Korea. At a later
time, it was developed in Europe. In the 1400s, Laurens JanzoonKoster of Holland and Panfilo
Castaldi of Italy, are thought to have made the first European use of printing with movable type. It
is Johan Gutenberg’s name, however, that is now associated with the invention of the movable type
printing press. Although the separate elements of printing (the type, the ink, and the press, and the
paper) were not Gutenberg’s own invention, his contribution was that he printed a large quantity
of work of high quality.
Born in Maniz, Germany, in about 1397, Gutenberg was trained as a goldsmith, but he
became a partner in printing office in about 1436. It was in his hometown of Mainz that he began
the project he is most famous for: printing of the Mazarin Bible. To finance this great project, he
borrowed money from a lawyer named Johann Fust and for a printer. He was unable to pay back
the money, however, and as a result lost both his printing press and the types to Fust, who carried
on Gutenburg’s work.
Gutenburg’s method dominated the printing industry for almost 400 years. It required
hand-setting particular pieces of type, locking them into place, and then printing on wooden
flatbed hand presses. The rate was slow compared to modern printing; 300 to 500 sheets a day
printed on a single side was considered a good rate production. Though not much is known about
Gutenburg’s life, his name lives on as a person who contributed significantly to the technology of
human communication.
21. What is the main topic of this passage?
A. A history of early printing
B. Gutenburg’s contribution to printing
C. The printing of the Mazarin Bible
D. Gutenburg’s life in Germany
22. The author infers that the most significant aspect of Gutenburg’s work in developing the art of
printing is:
A. The large number and quality of copies that he printed
B. The printing of Mazarin Bible
C. The fact that he developed a new technique using known elements
D. His inventive spirit and tenacious approach to his work
23. Why did Gutenburg borrow money from Fust?
A. In order to fund his printing of the Bible
B. In order to pay back loans for buying movable types
C. In order to expand his printing ability
D. In order to go into partnership with another printer
24. According to the author, which of the following did NOT precede Gutenburg in the use of
movable type printing?
A. Fust
B. Koster
C. Castaldi
D. The Chinese
25. Why does the author mention Koster and Castaldi?
A. To bring out the superiority of previous inventors
B. To show that Gutenburg had rivals
C. To demonstrate that historians disagree
D. To broaden the scope of this discussion.