READING COMPREHENSION
This section is designed to measure the ability to read and understand short passages similar in topic and style to those found in colleges.
Directions: In this section you will read several passages. Each one is followed by a number of questions about it. 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 about the information in a passage on the basis of what is started or implied in that passage.
Read the following passage:
Question 26 - 34
Those examples of poetic justice that occur in medieval and
Elizabethan literature, and that seem so satisfying, have encouraged a whole
school of twentieth-century scholars to "find" further examples. In
fact, these scholars have merely forced victimized character into a moral
framework by which the injustices inflicted on them are, somehow or other,
justified. Such scholars deny that the sufferers in a tragedy are innocent;
they blame the victims themselves for their tragic fates. Any misdoing is
enough to subject a character to critical whips. Thus, there are long essays
about the misdemeanors of Webster’s Duchess of Malfi, who defined her brothers,
and he behavior of Shakespeare’s Desdemona, who disobeyed her father.\n\nYet it
should be remembered that the Renaissance writer Matteo Bandello strongly
protests the injustice of the severe penalties issued to women for acts of
disobedience that men could, and did, commit with virtual impunity. And
Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Webster often enlist their readers on the side of their
tragic heroines by describing injustices so cruel that readers cannot but join
in protest. By portraying Griselda, in the Clerk’s Tale, as a meek, gentle
victim who does not criticize, much less rebel against the prosecutor, her
husband Waltter, Chaucer incites readers to espouse Griselda’s cause against
Walter’s oppression. Thus, efforts to supply historical and theological
rationalization for Walter’s persecutions tend to turn Chaucer’s fable upside
down, to deny its most obvious effect on reader’s sympathies. Similarly, to
assert that Webster’s Duchess deserved torture and death because she chose to
marry the man she loved and to bear their children is, in effect to join forces
with her tyrannical brothers, and so to confound the operation of poetic
justice, of which readers should approve, with precisely those examples of
social injustice that Webster does everything in his power to make readers
condemn. Indeed. Webster has his heroin so heroically lead the resistance to
tyranny that she may well in spire members of the audience to imaginatively
join forces with her against the cruelty and hypocritical morality of her
brothers. Thus Chaucer and Webster, in their different ways, attack injustice,
argue on behalf of the victims, and prosecute the persecutors. Their readers
serve them as a court of appeal that remains free to rule, as the evidence
requires, and as common humanity requires, in favour of the innocent and
injured parties. For, to paraphrase the noted eighteenth-century scholar,
Samuel Johnson, despite all the refinements of subtlety and the dogmatism of
learning, it is by the common sense and compassion of readers who are
uncorrupted by the characters and situations in mereval and Dlizabetahn
literature, as in any other literature, can best be judged.
26. According
to the passage, some twentieth-century scholars have written at length about
- Walter's
persecution of his wife in Chaucer's the Clerk's Tale
- the
Duchess of Malfi's love for her husband
- the
tyrannical behaviour of the Duchess of Malfi's brothers
- the
actions taken by Shakespeare's Desdemona
- the
injustices suffered by Chaucer's Griselda
The Correct
Answer is : D
27. The
primary purpose of the passage is to
- describe
the role of the tragic heroine in medieval and Elizabethan literature
- resolve
a controversy over the meaning of "poetic justice" as it is
discussed in certain medieval and Elizabethan literary treatises
- present
evidence to support the view that characters in medieval and Elizabethan
tragedies are to blame for their fates
- assert
that it is impossible for twentieth-century readers to fully comprehend
the characters and situations in medieval and Elizabethan literary works
- argue
that some twentieth-century scholars have misapplied the concept of
"poetic justice" in analyzing certain medieval and Elizabethan
literary works.
The Correct Answer is : E
28. It can be
inferred from the passage that the author consider Chaucer's Grisselda to be
- an
innocent victim
- a
sympathetic judge
- an
imprudent person
- a
strong individual
- a
rebellious daughters
The Correct Answer is : A
29. The
author's tone in her discussion of the conclusion's reached by the "school
of twentieth-century scholars" (line 2) is best described as
- plaintive
- philosophical
- disparaging
- apologetic
- enthusiastic
The Correct Answer is : C
30. It can be
inferred from the passage that the author believes that most people respond to
intended instances of poetic justice in medieval and Elizabethan literature
with
- annoyance
- disapproval
- indifference
- amusement
- gratification
The Correct Answer is : E
31. As
described in the passage, the process by which some twentieth-century scholars
have reached their conclusions about the blameworthiness of victims in medieval
and Elizabethan literary works is mot similar to which of the following?
- Derivation
of logically sound conclusions from well-founded premises
- Accurate
observation of data, inaccurate calculation of statistics, and drawing of
incorrect conclusions form the faulty statistics
- Establishment
of a theory, application of the theory to ill-fittings data, and drawing
of unwarranted conclusions from the data
- Development
of two schools of thought about a factual situation, debate between the
two schools, and rendering of a balanced judgment by an objective observer
- Consideration
of a factual situation by a group, discussion of various possible explanatory
hypotheses and agreement by consensus on the most plausible explanation
The Correct Answer is : C
32. The
author's paraphrase of a statement by Samuel Johnson serves which of the
following functions in the passage?
A. it furnishes a specific example
B. it articulates a general conclusion
C. it introduces a new topic
D. it provides a contrasting
perspective
E. it clarifies an ambiguous assertion
The Correct Answer is : B
33. The author of the passage is
primarily concerned with
- reconciling
opposing viewpoints
- encouraging
innovative approaches
- defending
an accepted explanation
- advocating
an alternative interpretation
- analyzing
an unresolved question
The Correct Answer is : D
34. The primary purpose of the passage
is to
A.
criticize
the inflexibility of American economic mythology
B.
contrast
"Old World" and "New World" economic ideologies
C.
challenge
the integrity of traditional political leaders
D.
champion
those Americans whom the author deems to be neglected
E.
suggests a
substitue for the traditional metaphor of a race
The Correct Answer is : A
Question 35-42
From their inception, most
rural neighborhoods in colonial North America included at least one carpenter, joiner, sawyer, and cooper in
woodworking; a weaver and a tailor for clothing production; a
tanner, currier, and cordwainer (shoemaker) for fabricating leather
objects; and a blacksmith for metalwork, Where
stone was the local building material, a mason was sure to appear
on the list of people who paid taxes. With only an apprentice as an assistant,
the rural artisan provided the neighborhood with common goods from furniture to
shoes to farm equipment in exchange for cash or for “goods in kind” from the
customer’s field, pasture, or dairy. Sometimes artisans transformed
material provided by the customer wove cloth of yam spun at the
farm from the wool of the family sheep; made chairs or tables from wood
cut in the customer’s own woodlot; produced shoes or leather breeches from cow,
deer, or sheepskin tanned on the farm. Like their farming neighbors, rural artisans were part of an economy
seen, by one historian, as “an orchestra conducted by nature.” Some
tasks could not be done in the winter, other had to be put off
during harvest time, and still others waited on raw materials that were only
produced seasonally. As the days grew shorter, shop hours kept pace, since few
artisans could afford enough artificial light to continue work when
the Sun went down. To the best of their ability, colonial artisans tried
to keep their shops as efficient as possible and to regularize
their schedules and methods of production for the best return on their
investment in time, tools, and materials, While it is pleasant to
imagine a woodworker, for example, carefully matching lumber,
joining a chest together without resort to nails or glue, and applying
all thought and energy to carving beautiful designs on the finished piece, the
time required was not justified unless the customer was willing to
pay extra for the quality
and few in rural areas were, Artisans, therefore, often found it necessary to employ as many shortcuts and economics as possible while still producing satisfactory products.
and few in rural areas were, Artisans, therefore, often found it necessary to employ as many shortcuts and economics as possible while still producing satisfactory products.
35.
What
aspect of rural colonial North America does the passage mainly discuss?
(A) Farming
practices
(B) The work of artisans
(C) The character
of rural neighborhoods
(D) Types of
furniture that were popular
The Correct Answer is : B
36. The
word “inception” in line 1 is closest in meaning to
(A) investigation
(B) location
(C) beginning
(D) records
The Correct Answer is : C
37. The word
“fabricating” in line 3 is closest in meaning to
(A) constructing
(B) altering
(C) selecting
(D) demonstrating
The Correct Answer is : A
38. It can be
inferied from the from the passage that the use of artificial light in colonial times
was
was
(A) especially
helpful to woodworkers
(B) popular in
rural areas
(C) continuous in
winter
(D) expensive
The Correct Answer is : D
39. Why did
colonial artisans want to “regularize their schedules their schedules” (line 18)?
(A) To enable them
to produce high quality products
(B) To enable them
to duplicate an item many times
(C) To impress
their customers
(D) To keep expenses low
The Correct Answer is : D
40. The phrase “resort to”
in line 20 is closest in meaning
to
(A) protecting
with
(B) moving toward
(C) manufacturing
(D) using
The Correct Answer is : D
41. The word “few’ in lines
23 refers to
(A) woodworkers
(B) finished
pieces
(C) customers
(D) chests
The Correct Answer is : D
42. It can inferred that the
artisans referred to in the
passage usually produced products that
were
were
(A) simple
(B) delicate
(C) beautifully
decorated
(D) exceptionally long-lasting
The Correct Answer is : A
Question 43-50
The largest of the
giant gas planets, Jupiter, with a volume 1,300 times greater than Earth’s, contains more than
twice the mass of all the other planets combined. It is thought
to be a gaseous and fluid planet without solid
surfaces, Had it been somewhat more massive, Jupiter might have
attained internal temperatures as high as the ignition point for nuclear reactions,
and it would have flamed as a star in its own right. Jupiter and the other
giant planets are of a low-density type quite distinct from the
terrestrial planets: they are composed
predominantly of such substances as hydrogen, helium, ammonia, and methane, unlike
terrestrial planets. Much of Jupiter’s interior might be in the form of liquid,
metallic hydrogen, Normally, hydrogen is a gas, but under pressures
of millions of kilograms per square centimeter, which exist in the
deep interior of Jupiter, the hydrogen atoms might lock together to
form a liquid with the properties of a metal. Some scientists believe that the
innermost core of Jupiter might be rocky, or metallic like the core of Earth.
Jupiter rotates
very fast, once every 9.8 hours. As a result, its clouds, which are composed largely
of frozen and liquid ammonia, have been whipped into alternating dark and
bright bands that circle the planet at different speeds in
different latitudes. Jupiter’s puzzling
Great Red Spot changes size as it hovers in the
Southern Hemisphere. Scientists speculate it might be a gigantic hurricane, which because of its large size (the
Earth could easily fit inside it), lasts for hundreds of years. Jupiter
gives off twice as much heat as it receives from the Sun. Perhaps this is
primeval heat or beat generated by the continued gravitational
contraction of the planet. Another starlike characteristic of
Jupiter is its sixteen natural satellites, which, like a miniature model of
the Solar System, decrease in density with distance - from rocky moons close to
Jupiter to icy moons farther away. If Jupiter were about 70 times
more massive, it would have become
a star, Jupiter is the best-preserved sample of the early solar nebula, and
with its satellites, might contain the most important clues about
the origin of the Solar System.
43. The word “attained” in
line 4 is closest in meaning to
(A) attempted
(B) changed
(C) lost
(D) reached
The Correct Answer is : D
44. The word “flamed” in line 5 is closest in meaning to
(A) burned
(B) divided
(C) fallen
(D) grown
The Correct Answer is : A
45. The word “they” in line 6 refers to
(A) nuclear reactions
(B) giant planets
(C) terrestrial
(D) substances
The Correct Answer is : B
(A) extremely hot
(B) combined with helium
(C) similar atmospheres
(D) metallic cores
The Correct Answer is : C
they both have
(A) solid surfaces
(B) similar masses
(C) similar atmospheres
(D) metallic cores
The Correct Answer is : D
(A) ammonia
(B) helium
(C) hydrogen
(D) methane
The Correct Answer is : A
(A) the Great Red Spot
(B) heat from the Sun
(C) the planet’s fast rotation
(D) Storms from the planet’s
Southern Hemisphere
The Correct Answer is : C
50. The author uses the word “puzzling” in line 15 to suggest that the Great Red Spot is
(A) the only spot of its kind
(B) not well understood
(C) among the largest of such
spots
(D) a problem for the planet’s
continued existence
The Correct Answer is : B
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